Weak Spot
by theBringerofWar
Summary: Anna has worked most of her career as a public defender, but recently she's been offered -what she thinks- is a better opportunity. The night before she starts her new job she has an interesting run in with the woman who turns out to be her new boss. [Business/Lawyer!AU, ElsaAnna].
1. Chocolate

Nota Bene: Rated T for now for some language and suggestive themes, but rating might go up if this is something that I choose to continue/has any interest.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chocolate**

Long, luscious platinum blonde hair, woven into a braid with messy bangs and thick, perfectly shaped brown eyebrows. She was perfect. Literal perfection. She was tall and slim, had a body to die for. She also had pale skin and rosy cheeks, with the lightest little freckles speckled all over.

Anna's freckles weren't as inconspicuous and her strawberry-blonde hair with her one white streak wasn't as straight-out-of-a-hair-commercial perfect, but she liked to think she was just as desireable as… _shit_.

"What's your name again?" she whispered, out of breath, before her lips crashed against the taller woman's once more, her back smashed against the bedroom wall.

"Elsa. My name's Elsa," the woman responded, just as out of breath as Anna, her lipstick slightly smeared around the edges of her mouth.

"Sorry," Anna blushed.

"It's okay."

Anna liked to think she was just as desireable as _Elsa_, after all, she did manage to get the platinum blonde back to her apartment -however many drinks had been involved- and _Elsa _did seem to be really into this kiss. Maybe this was reckless, but it felt nice and Elsa had warm lips and soft skin and Anna would just have to worry about possible guilt or repercussions in the morning, because tonight...

Tonight, she was going to enjoy.

Anna moaned as Elsa's hands roved over her body, possibly searching for a way to slip her out of her long sleeved, green, skin tight party dress _gracefully_. After a minute of searching and no reprieve, Elsa finally reached low and snatched at the hem, hastily lifting the dress above Anna's head, slightly ripping it in the process. She then threw it aside and brought her lips back to Anna's, her hands trailing over the lace of the shorter woman's black bra.

"I'm sorry," she breathed into Anna's mouth. "I can repay you for that, I just needed to feel your skin."

"It's okay," Anna responded, pulling back for a moment to get a better look at the woman in front of her. Elsa's hair was frazzled, her chest heaving, her cheeks flushed, her forehead damp, and her eyes held a deep, lustful passion that Anna had never before witnessed. And, _Oh God_, she thought, _Am I really doing this to her?_

It was intoxicating, to say the least, and for a moment -just one moment- Anna let her guard falter and she acknowledged that Elsa made her feel beautiful, and wanted, and that she thought this moment was ornately intimate on a deeper level than just a one night stand...

But she'd never utter those words out loud, no matter how drunk she may be. So, instead, she smiled and lifted herself to meet Elsa's lips once more. She went even more into the kiss than she had before and maybe, just maybe, she could lose herself in Elsa's lips and just kiss those unwanted thoughts away because, _fuck, _she deserved to enjoy this night without over complicating the situation.

So she wouldn't over complicate the situation.

She was just going to let go and allow her primal urges to dominate her mind.

—X—

When Anna woke the next morning, El... _Ellen... Ella _-whatever her name was- was nowhere to be found, and there wasn't even anything as simple as a note to say that everything was okay. And that was perfectly normal and acceptable for this situation, except Anna really really _really _wanted to see how the sunlight bounced off of El-_something_'s exquisitely pale skin, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, it would have been nice to wake up to the platinum blonde just lying there, innocently slumbering.

But, she figured, the universe must have decided that _that _was just an image that she couldn't afford.

Anna sat up in bed and waited a tick for the inevitable wave of regret to wash over her, but it never came, so she smiled and untangled herself from her sheets as she headed for the shower. Today was going to be a good day- new job, guilt-free conscience, and good health. Her mother said to always be thankful for good health. She had half a mind to go back to that bar tonight in hopes of maybe seeing her elusive beauty from last night again, but she didn't want to push her luck.

Or make the situation awkward.

After all, she was too drunk to even remember the woman's name so she doesn't want to consider the other possible side effects of her beer goggles. She was already regretting the fact that she'd need to get a triple, venti, half-sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiato just to make it through the day, and possibly several bottles of Gatorade to rid herself of this annoyingly faint hangover headache. Expecting to see the platinum blonde again, or better yet, expecting the platinum blonde to _want _to see her again was completely out of the question.

She _did _leave before Anna had a chance to wake up. That had to speak for something.

—X—

"If you're ordering this you must have had a rough night," Kristoff smiled, handing her the coffee. "Or you had a _great _one depending on how you want to look at the situation."

Cafe Sven was owned by Anna's most cherished friend- Kristoff Bjorgman. They'd known each other since she was a struggling undergrad and he had recently inherited the family business.

The cafe had a rustic interior with wooden everything and at times it looked more like a hunting den than a coffee shop, but to Anna, it still felt like as much of a home as her apartment did.

"The night was great, but I'm definitely going to pay for it today. First day of my new job, and I'm slightly hungover." Anna took the coffee from her friend, taking a tentative sip to test the temperature, she already trusted that any thing Kristoff made would taste divine.

He laughed as he walked over to the pastries and took out the most delectable looking chocolate brownie, topped with chocolate sprinkles. "Well, this one is on the house, since you're my favorite customer." He paused for a moment as he wrapped the pastry and placed it in a white bag. "So, who was she?" he asked, handing the bag to Anna.

"Beautiful."

"That's not who she _was_," He laughed, "-that's how she looked."

"Oh," Anna gasped, slightly embarrassed about her lack of knowledge of the woman. "Well her name was El."

"Just _'L'…_?"

Anna's cheeks flushed red as she nodded, hoping that Kristoff would just drop the subject. Luckily for her, he had known her long enough to take a hint.

"So," he started again, "-you said you're going to your _new_ job. No longer in public defending?"

"No," Anna stated, sucking in a nervous breath as she shook her head. "I got an offer from a private firm… and I was tired of defending criminals. _So_ much work and so little payoff, you know? Plus this job- well now I can afford nicer things, and maybe a better coffee shop," she winked.

Kristoff took out a towel and began to wipe the counter down. "Goddamn it, Anna. You drank the purple koolaid. I thought I could count on you to keep fighting the good fight, but it looks to me like you're taking off your white hat."

"Well, the white hat's a big responsibility."

Kristoff stopped wiping, taking the time to look over the nervous woman standing in front of him. "This can be just as much responsibility, Anna. Don't lose who you are. Remember why you started this, and don't turn into one of those _I only care about my win rate _lawyer drones. I can already see that you're being a little reckless."

Anna tightened her grip on the white bag in her hand, fighting the urge to rip it open and shove half the treat into her mouth. She was indescribably hungry, but also running kind of late. "Look, _Christopher_, I was just having a little fun for the first time in… well, a long time. Cut me a little slack. I gotta go."

"It's _Kris-toff_, and be safe, kid. Have a great first day."

"Thanks," Anna smiled, before quickly turning on her heels and heading toward the front door of the cafe. She made it about three steps out before she wedged the bag between her finger and the coffee cup, and maneuvered the pastry out into her hand. She then began to bite off larger chunks than normal as she power walked through the intersection toward her new place of occupation, that was conveniently close to her favorite coffee shop.

By the time she made it to the entrance, the brownie was gone and she was able to toss the bag into a nearby trash can. She then rushed in, waving her new ID to the security guard, and began to climb up the steps to the third floor, taking her time because she was notoriously clumsy, and at the moment she happened to be holding a coffee.

The building looked marvelous with marble floors, and glass walls everywhere. Probably described as modern-something, no doubt a subject that Anna had zero knowledge about. Apparently it was so evident that she had been scheduled to have an appointment with a designer to help with her office. As long as she had a chair and a desk she could get the job done, everything else was just extra.

As Anna made it to her floor she looked down at her shirt to try and wipe a few remaining brownie crumbs away, but in the process she made contact with another person, nearly spilling her coffee on the impeccable white blouse that her gaze was now focused on, too afraid to be lifted to meet the other woman's eyes.

After a few seconds she chanced a glance up, and her eyes met the worst possible scenario in the history of bad scenarios. She was staring right into the eyes of Elsa… because, _that,_ she suddenly remembered, _is her name._ And she had no idea why the platinum blonde was there.

"Anna, what are you doing here?" Elsa asked, obviously caught off guard, apparently just as confused about the shorter woman's presence.

Anna felt her cheeks start to burn, fully aware that she was probably blushing, but decided to maintain eye contact anyway. "Im uhm, I'm the new junior associate," she chirped, her voice a thousand times more cheerful than she planned for it to be.

Elsa's impassive countenance didn't falter as she continued to look down at Anna, but there was a slight moment of realization in her eyes. "Oh," she said, flatly. "_You're _the new junior associate."

Anna felt her skin go cold at the statement, and she tightened her grip on her coffee to stop her fingers from trembling. "Y-yeah," she stuttered, "-is that a problem?"

Elsa sucked in a breath and blinked a few times before responding. "The way it works is there are partners and they each have a team of senior associates, and senior associates all have a team of junior associates. Hans is a partner and I'm a senior associate. I work for him, and you work for me. It's just a little odd that Hans… he hasn't hired a junior associate in years, let alone interviewed one himself- yet here you are. With chocolate on your face."

Her stare was icy and blue and intimidating. And Anna didn't know how those eyes once made her feel beautiful because right now, if looks could kill, Anna was sure she'd be six feet under the earth.

She hadn't imagined it, Elsa was actually perfect. And the tall, slender man with the perfect sideburns and glorious hair walking toward them -Hans- was perfect. And when he kissed Elsa on the cheek and smiled affectionately down at her they were two perfect people making a perfect couple, and Anna had chocolate on her face.

Elsa then said _something_ and he walked away and Anna looked down at the floor as she tried to surreptitiously rid her profusely blushing face of chocolate residue. After her best effort she looked back up and tried to put on a smile as she squeaked, "Husband?" to Elsa.

Elsa looked around the now empty floor, wordless, for a moment before looking back to Anna. She then took a predatory step forward as she pressed the pad of her thumb into her own mouth, leaving it there for a moment before extending it to the side of Anna's mouth and wiping.

There it was again, the stare that made Anna's heart flutter and her knees weak, and made it hard for her to even remember her own name.

Elsa just stood there, delicately wiping Anna's face with her thumb, as cool as the proverbial cucumber. When she finished she cupped Anna's cheek and stared down into the shorter woman's large, teal eyes. "I'm not married," she stated, letting her hand rest on the spot a little too long to just be a _friendly _touch.

And with that she walked away, leaving Anna alone to marinate over the meaning of those three words.


	2. Opera

**Chapter 2: Opera**

* * *

She could still feel her fingers tangled in Elsa's hair as her breathing increased and her conscious mind became acutely aware of every single, little way that Elsa's skin was making contact with her own. She could still feel the way her heart fluttered when Elsa's lips left hers, and her platinum blonde locks began to drop lower.

She could still feel it.

She couldn't forget it, and she didn't know why. It had been two whole days since it happened.

Anna nervously paced around the buzzing lobby that was filled with laughing, chatting, and sparkling formally dressed people. She took a slow sip of her second glass of wine as she made a left turn, prepared to repeat her rotation once again. This was a completely uncharted territory for her. An unknown atmosphere that came compliment of her new, shiny career.

Sure, this was kind of like a party, but these weren't the type of people she was accustomed to conversing with, and she didn't even feel like she was adequately dressed for the occasion, although she spent more on the cream gown that she was wearing than she'd ever spent on _any_ other item of clothing. Normally she could -and very well would- be a social butterfly, but this particular event was just more than a little intimidating.

To top this whole overwhelming situation off -like the unlucky icing on her misery cake- she couldn't manage to keep thoughts of Elsa from floating through her mind. And those thoughts, those already unwelcome thoughts, much to her demise were not necessarily family friendly. But then again, neither was her _only_ substantial experience with the platinum blonde. An experience that Elsa refused to bring up, or had forgotten completely.

Maybe that was better for both of them. After all, it did make Anna feel a little less awkward around the taller woman knowing that she would probably never bring up the encounter.

Still, it was quite unnerving for Anna, when one glance at Elsa's lips during a meeting could bring back a memory of those very same lips trailing kisses down her dramatically rising and falling freckled chest, going lower and lower until she was unceremoniously snapped back to real life. Even more unnerving when she had to physically remove herself from the meeting, garnering many awkward looks from her new colleagues.

So, she had a _little_ thing for Elsa. No big deal.

She had circled the entirety of the lobby maybe eight times by now, developing a rather calming routine, a separate bubble of comfortable space for herself. She had a safe place where her thoughts could wander, and no one would be paying attention to her. Even with her adorable charm and exciting personality traits, people had a weird habit of just not noticing her in these types of situations.

That was one of the many things that attracted her to Elsa at the bar two nights ago. The platinum blonde hadn't been able to keep her eyes off of Anna for most of the night, until finally the freckled woman had drank enough liquid courage to go up and confront her not-so-secret admirer.

Sadly, now, she found that Elsa's eyes had grown accustomed to wandering in every direction _except_ for hers.

But, at this particular moment, it was okay that Elsa wasn't paying attention to her. For some reason or another, on her ninth trip around the lobby, she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that at one point in time she had been looking _down _into Elsa's eyes, rather than up. That thought alone was too much to handle. It took her breath away. It made the room feel hot, and it made her feel a little uneasy. She felt like she was wearing her thoughts as plainly as her clothes, and if anyone looked hard enough they'd know exactly what was on her mind. She didn't want Elsa to see her heart start to beat faster as she thought about the platinum blonde hair on the woman's head sinking lower and lower, trailing little kisses straight toward her-

"Are you a shark?"

"W-what?" Anna stuttered, more alarmed and caught off guard than she ever remembered being in her life. Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it'd hammer straight through her chest.

She looked over to find Elsa walking alongside of her, the woman's strides falling in step with her own. She tried to calm herself and ignore the fact that Elsa's attire easily eclipsed the formal wear of everyone else in the room, and her own dress, painfully and obviously, did not. Elsa's dress looked like it was _made_ to fit her. It was blue, but clear at the same time, like ice. It was tight but loose in all the right places. Her hair was braided and effortlessly, yet flawlessly, draped over her shoulder.

Anna's dress looked like it came straight off the rack with no fitting -which, in reality- it did. And she had braided the front of her hair and shoved it into a bun, because at the ripe age of twenty-five she still didn't know how to properly control the tangled, untamable monster that dwelled on top of her head.

"You keep moving and pacing around this room... like if you stopped, you'd die." Elsa insisted, her tone nonchalant, and her face stuck in its forever impassive mold.

Anna nodded, now fully understanding the meaning of the shark question. She fought the urge to release her usual nervous bubbly giggle at Elsa's joke as she tried to maintain her slightly professional air. "Well if I stopped I'd be standing at a party alone with no one to talk to. So, in a way, I _would_ sort of die."

Elsa then gently took Anna by the elbow and lead her out of the lobby and onto a balcony that had one of the most amazing views that Anna had ever seen. It overlooked the city in just the right way, making everything seem more fantastic than it actually was up close. "Parties are about making new friends." Elsa said, staring out over the balcony. "You're supposed to be social."

"Well I'm talking to you now, so I guess I'm doing okay. Being a little social."

Elsa turned to Anna, her eyes very intently studying the shorter woman. "Why don't you talk to Hans?" she whispered, her face moving _just_ enough to highlight her confusion.

"Because I don't really know Hans," Anna shrugged.

Elsa nodded, considering this statement, still intently staring at Anna. "Interesting."

Anna met Elsa's gaze, and for a moment Elsa's stare didn't seem so intimidating, and her eyes felt more warm than they did icy. Then the lights above them flickered, and Elsa blinked, and the moment was gone.

"Do you like opera?" Elsa asked.

Anna glanced into the lobby as the crowd began to shift inside of the auditorium doors before turning back to Elsa. She felt a blush creeping up her cheeks as a sudden wave of embarrassment overcame her. She had come to this because she was invited, but truthfully she had very little knowledge of operas. "Actually," she started, "-I haven't really had that much expos-"

"Neither do I," Elsa interrupted, with a conspiratorial head-tip toward the doors. She then started to walk and Anna followed. They entered the now empty lobby, aimlessly strolling around. "So, you already know that you're assigned to my team. I supervise your case-work, and generally keep an eye on you."

"Cool," Anna smiled. "You're kind of like a mentor."

"More like a probation officer."

Anna nodded, meeting Elsa's gaze as the taller woman looked to make sure she understood. This wasn't a friendly training exercise. Elsa was just watching for if and when Anna screwed up so they could drop the freckled woman and move on to a better applicant. "Okay," Anna replied.

"We want one-hundred-ten percent performance. We burn out associates at an astonishing rate at Southern Isles."

"You have to try a little harder if you want to scare me away," Anna laughed, nervously.

Elsa stopped walking, studying Anna. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

Elsa gave Anna one firm nod before taking in a breath. "Who _are_ you?"

Anna didn't respond. Part of her was uncertain of what Elsa was actually asking. Part of her didn't want Elsa to know. And the other part wasn't even sure if she knew herself.

"So," Elsa continued, "-we have a guy working in the criminal division, fresh out of Harvard, named John White. One of our super _wealthy_ clients got into some routine BS trouble and John got the case. Against you. Next thing we know, he's fired and Hans hires you _personally_ and assigns you to me."

Anna sucked in a breath, weighing her options. She could lie to Elsa, but there was really no point in that, other than the fact that she felt a little bad about what happened. In the end, she didn't do anything against the law, so she decided to tell the truth. "The bust against your client was good. John tried to make a deal with me. Said if I threw the case he'd arrange for me to meet Hans. He set the meeting up for the day after the court date. So, I laid it out, told him how I'd lose. When we got to court I wiped the floor with him. Your client got the max sentence. Then I met with Hans the next day." Anna shrugged, offered Elsa a half smile.

"Wow," Elsa breathed. "You know what's amazing about that?"

"No."

"You didn't actually do anything _wrong_."

Anna shrugged again, scratched at her shoulder. "Well, I wasn't really that honest with John."

"Guess you weren't," Elsa stated. She then turned and walked through the doors of the auditorium, once again leaving Anna alone to stew over a three word sentence.

After a beat, Anna decided to let it go and she also walked into the auditorium, desperately searching for her seat in the dark. When she finally found her row, she slid through, trying her best to not be her usual clumsy self, until she found her butt firmly planted in her spot. She looked to her left as she was settling in, the opera singer's voice filling her ears, and her eyes landed on Elsa.

She leaned forward and sucked in another long breath, unable to turn her glance from the beautiful woman. Much to her surprise, this time, Elsa actually met her eyes. The platinum blonde then turned away, looked back, turned away again, and then leaned back in her seat.

Anna leaned even more forward, trying to see Elsa, and their eyes met once more. This time Anna let a shy smile slip from her lips.

Elsa smiled back. An actual smile, her cheeks slightly blushing. It seemed involuntary, like it burst from her mouth without her consent. Her red cheeks betraying her. Then she looked away and covered her mouth with her hand, staring at the floor as if smiling was something she'd never experienced before. For a moment she just sat there like that, before finally looking back to Anna. The smile was no longer on her lips, but there was a faint hint of it still lingering in her eyes.

—X—

Anna signed her name on the last piece of paperwork she had to complete as the interior designer for her office showed her two different splotches of color.

"Yellow," Anna smiled. "It's my favorite color."

"I always took you for a 'Green' girl."

Anna lifted her head just in time to catch Elsa's accompanying wink with the statement. She smiled, thinking that the taller woman was referring to the dress that she had ripped off of Anna during the faithful night that they met... but that was probably just her imagination. There could be a number of other reasons the platinum blonde had said that.

"Walk me to my meeting?" Elsa asked, pointing over her shoulder. Anna followed her out and they crossed a vast empty space surrounded by other glass enclosed offices, headed toward the stairs. "Sorry about all of the work you have to go though," Elsa frowned. "Hans believes in trial by fire, so he's putting you through the wringer."

"No worries," Anna chirped, carefully walking up the stairs. "I'm already half way finished with it. Can get a lot more done over this long weekend."

Elsa nodded, pausing at the top of the stairs as people walked into a meeting room, taking their seats behind her. "_So_," she started, rather timidly for her normally stone-cold demeanor. "I have this thing I have to go to tonight… but I should be home by nine." She pulled a card out with a number scribbled on the back. "You should call me and tell me how the work is going."

Anna took the card and stared at it for a moment. "I'll think about it," she mused. Elsa then lifted a brow, and Anna flushed red. She was _trying_ to flirt, but now it seemed like the whole thing had backfired. "I-I uhhh," she stuttered, her face turning even more red. "I mean, I will call you, definitely. I will definitely call you." She nodded to emphasize the point even more.

Elsa nodded. "Okay. I'll be waiting," she smiled.

There was Elsa's smile again. Anna preferred it over the impassive look that sometimes made her skin crawl with the way it just _cut_ through her. Elsa's smile was beautiful, and more than a little contagious.

"Yeah," Anna smiled back. "Just wait for it… I mean, _oh God_," she said, bringing her palm to her forehead in embarrassment. She had gotten lost in Elsa's smile and she hoped beyond hope that the taller woman hadn't noticed the direction her teal eyes were pointed in. Elsa's lips, those perfect lips, just seemed so…_ inviting_. "Not like you should be waiting around the phone for my call… " Anna continued, trying to save face, "-but you can expect a call tonight. Yeah."

"Okay," Elsa said, still smiling. "I have to go to my meeting now."

"Yeah! Sure, do good... er, I mean _well_."

_Shit. _

—X—

"She's probably laughing at how dumb I am. She's probably regretting giving me her number. I know she _definitely_ doesn't want me to call her."

Kristoff continued to clean his equipment, preparing to close up as he listened to Anna speak. "Then maybe you shouldn't call her. No harm, no foul. You're both adults, and able to understand the situation... but don't sell yourself short, though. You're definitely a catch."

Anna put her head down on the counter, releasing a deep sigh. "What if she _actually_ just wants to know how the work is going and I'm the loser making a big deal out of it."

"That's very possible," Kristoff muttered, obviously more focused on his task than the conversation.

"That's it," Anna stated, lifting her head. "I'm not going to call, and I will stop making this really awkward between us. This is my new job, and she is my boss… and this isn't fair to her. I'll just tell her how things went at work on Monday."

"That's probably your safest bet."

"Why couldn't I just keep it in my pants?" Anna whined.

"Because," Kristoff started, looking up to Anna, "-to quote you: I was just having a little fun for the first time in… well, a long time."

Anna scratched her nails over the wooden counter, thinking about how much she _now_ regretted the entire situation. She couldn't get Elsa out of her brain no matter how hard she tried. She had told herself she wouldn't overcomplicate this situation, but that was _exactly_ what she was doing right now.

"Okay," she huffed. "I will stop this thing before it goes any farther," she said with new found conviction. "I'm not going to call her. I don't wanna go through this whole 'does she or does she not like me' thing. I just want to enjoy my new job."

"That's very mature of you," Kristoff said, returning to his cleaning. "I know you like to listen to your heart, so actually listening to your brain right now… my little Anna is growing up."

"She also might have a thing with Hans. I still haven't figured that out, and I don't want to step in the middle of that."

Kristoff nodded and took a second before responding. "You're too young to be involved in something that complicated. Plenty of uncomplicated fish in the sea."

"But do they look like Elsa?"

"Well, I've never seen her, but from the way you described her," Kristoff started, looking up from his cleaning, "-no one looks like Elsa."

"It's just that… I _had _her and she got away," Anna sighed, looking up to the ceiling as she started to pace. Kristoff rolled his eyes and looked back to his work. Anna dug the toe of her shoe into a notch in the wood on the floor. "I just can't stop thinking about her," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's like… everything she does affects me, you know? She makes my heart beat faster and stuff… but nothing that _I _do affects her. That has to mean something, right? It has to mean she's not interested in me."


	3. Frazzled

**Chapter 3: Frazzled**

* * *

Anna didn't call Elsa.

Well, she didn't call Elsa that night. She waited an extra day before finally picking up the phone. She had stayed strong as long as she possibly could, but she feared that Elsa's business card, with the number so diligently scribbled on the back, would eventually burn a hole through her desk if it wasn't put to good use. Anna had a million and one excuses for calling Elsa running through her head every minute, and she only had one excuse not to do it.

This could turn out bad.

It could. After all, she did happen to work for Elsa. She was possibly in jeopardy of losing her job, but even on that note, as long as they stayed professional, she didn't see why their relationship would ever be a problem. Like Kristoff said, they were both adul-

Anna stopped mid-thought and ran a hand through her frazzled hair as she shoved her already chewed up pen back into her mouth.

_Relationship_.

She had just thought of her and Elsa as being in a relationship… or at least having a relationship, but that would involve them having a _real_ conversation. A conversation where Elsa didn't have the sudden urge to utter three words and then mysteriously disappear. They had yet to have one of those. That was another reason to call.

Maybe they could have their first real conversation, not about work, and possibly not awkward. Elsa's beautiful, loving, icy, blue eyes were her downfall, and those eyes wouldn't be able to make her knees weak if all they were doing was having a simple phone conversation. This was nothing but a win-win situation.

Anna smiled to herself and looked down at the stacks of paper cluttering her kitchen table. Her heart sank a bit at the sight.

Three years.

Hans expected her to catch up on _three years_ of information in two weeks. She understood trial by fire, but she needed at least a small chance of surviving. If anything, she could use this as an excuse to call Elsa. She could tell her the work was going fine, smoothly.

It was at least a half truth. In all honesty, the work was challenging. Not because she couldn't do it- but because she found it boring. She'd already found six disqualifiers in Ohio, Florida, and Delaware, but with each minute that she spent going through this paperwork, she missed being back in court.

Anna dragged her pen from her mouth and placed it down on the table as she stood and brushed the chip crumbs from her green and white striped sweater. It was time to call Elsa. She'd been going over this moment in her head for the past twenty-four hours, and now it was finally time for her to do it.

She walked to the kitchen counter and picked up her cell phone, punching the first three digits of the number in before pausing. She took a moment to squash every negative though that was still lingering around in her mind before punching the rest of the numbers into the phone. She then raised it to her ear and hoped for the best.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

After three rings Anna sighed, prepared to put the phone down, then Elsa's voice floated into her ear. "Hello, Elsa Lockheart, speaking."

Anna froze.

It was true that those eyes, Elsa's eyes, weren't going to be able to make her knees weak, but she had completely underestimated the effect that the platinum blonde's voice could have on her heart rate. Anna hadn't spoken. She hadn't said anything yet. She still had the option to just drop the phone and-

"Anna, I know it's you. Just say something."

_Shit,_ she thought, sucking in a long quiet breath. She then released it and looked around her kitchen, as if Elsa was just going to pop out of a cabinet at any moment. "H-Hi, Elsa. I was just checking in like I said. I wanted to tell you…" She pauses and clears her throat, trying to stabilize her shaky voice. "I wanted to tell you the work is-"

"We had sex, Anna," Elsa interrupted, pausing for a moment as if she wanted to test the impact of her words.

Anna chose not to respond, thinking it'd be safer to wait for Elsa to continue, than to try to speak and completely embarrass herself.

"You okay, Anna?" Elsa asked after a few seconds of silence.

Anna nodded as if Elsa was in the room with her, before realizing that she actually needed to speak. "I'm fine, Elsa," she whispered.

"Good. I"m glad you called, actually."

"Is that why you wanted me to call? You just wanted to point out that we had sex?"

Anna tightened her grip on the phone and started to pace around her kitchen. It was scary. The effect that Elsa had on her was very frightening. She had known this woman for less than a week, yet it had become impossible to wipe Elsa from her mind. She didn't want to give her this much power, but it was almost impossible not to.

Elsa let out a light chuckle on the other end, and it sent a cold shiver down Anna's spine. Elsa then stopped laughing and cleared her throat. "No, Anna. I wanted to know if you liked it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did you like the sex?"

Anna's lips went dry and she tried to lick them and restore some moisture, but her efforts proved fruitless. "Yes," she squeaked, her voice so tiny that she hoped Elsa hadn't heard her response.

"I liked it too, Anna. I really like your freckles. Anyway, that's not really why I wanted you to call me. This case came up, and I thought you'd be interested in it, so I want you to be my second chair. That sound okay to you?"

Anna took in another breath, scratched at the fabric of her sweater. "Y-yeah, that would be great. Thank you for the opportunity. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't."

And then the call ended.

Anna dropped her phone onto the counter and channeled every ounce of control she had left into her breathing, trying her best not to start hyperventilating. She didn't know what just happened. She didn't know what Elsa was doing to her, or why she -or at least her body- seemed to be so _responsive_ to it.

This was supposed to be her big chance to have a normal conversation with Elsa, yet it ended the way that all of their conversations seem to. She couldn't let this happen. She needed to step up.

Anna extended her shaky hand toward her phone again, picking it up, and once again dialing Elsa's number. This time she picked up on the first ring. "What is it, Anna?"

"Do you wanna come over to my apartment?"

She wasn't one hundred-percent sure why she asked it. The question just seemed to slip out of her mouth, but once she'd said it, she'd meant it. She wanted Elsa to come over. It didn't matter what they ended up doing, she wanted to get the platinum blonde back into her apartment.

Elsa didn't respond for a moment, considering the question. She then released a breath and made a couple of clicking sounds with her mouth. "Not tonight, Anna."

Anna's heart sank a little with the response, but it wasn't a flat out rejection- so she could at least be happy about that. "Okay, Elsa. Bye."

"I'll see you Monday."

Anna smiled as she put her phone back down on the counter. At least she had gotten a proper goodbye this time.

—X—

"What are you doing for lunch?"

Anna looked up from the files she'd been studying to the woman lingering in the doorway of her office. She offered Elsa a polite smile and nodded toward the chair in front of her desk. "Sorry, I'm probably just going to be working," she apologized. "I want to be as prepared as possible for this case."

Elsa smiled back and gave a slight nod as she walked toward the chair. She then dropped down into it, gracefully throwing one of her legs over the other. "You really are all about the job."

"I guess it would appear that way… but I'm not," Anna blushed. "I don't want you to think I'm like trying too hard or anything. I just like to be on top of things."

Elsa's eyes dropped for an instant, hovering over Anna's mouth, but then they shot back up just as fast as they had dropped. If Anna had blinked, she would have missed it. Elsa then sucked in a breath and cleared her throat. "Interesting."

Anna didn't respond right away. She just sat, waiting, hoping that Elsa would say something other than _interesting_. Either she and Elsa were playing a very intricate game of cat and mouse, or there was a large chunk of the puzzle that she had to be missing. Elsa was taking dark and mysterious to a whole new level.

"Yeah," Anna asserted, after coming to the conclusion that the older woman wasn't going to say anything else. "I like to give my best effort. If you want to call that interesting… then I guess it's interesting."

Elsa's eyes dropped again, but this time they remained there for a few seconds. She then raised her eyes again, not seeming to care about how conspicuous that glance was.

Anna nearly melted in her seat trying to hold it together in front of Elsa. Her head was spinning and the room seemed to be getting hotter and hotter.

Elsa just concentrated on Anna's eyes for a minute, and then she started to speak again. "It's interesting because I thought.. Look, are we on the same page here? I just need to know."

Anna furrowed her brow, shaking her head. "Well, I… I think we're on the same page."

"Come to lunch with me."

"Excuse me?"

Elsa leaned forward in her chair and reached onto Anna's desk to grab a paper weight. She tossed it between her hands a few times, seemingly very intrigued by the item. She then placed it back onto Anna's desk, staring the freckled woman in the eyes. "I want you to come to lunch with me. You have a natural talent in the court room. You're better than every other junior associate without even trying, yet you work the hardest. That's what I find interesting. That's the page I'm on," she assured. "So, take a break and come to lunch with me."

Anna stared at the paper weight for a moment, as if it was somehow different now that Elsa had touched it. Or maybe it just bought her some time to think about what the platinum blonde had just asked. "Are you sure," she finally began, "-you want _me_ to go to lunch with you?"

"Yes-" Elsa shifted in her seat, unfolding her legs and then recrossing them again. "Am I missing something? Am I overstepping any boundaries?"

"Yes," Anna responded, quickly. "I mean, no… but, I don't…" She paused and took a moment to clear her mind. "I don't really know why I'm objecting. That sounds fantastic, actually. I'm famished."

"Good," Elsa continued, "-because I like you, Anna. I like how you're all about the job. I mean, you didn't really mind stepping on John to get to where you needed to be. I admire that… _ambition._ I really want to get to know you," she shrugged, a smirk plastered on her perfect lips.

Anna wasn't really sure what Elsa was smirking at, and she _did_, in fact, _mind_ what she had done in order to get to this position, but she decided that maybe this wasn't really the time to bring that up. "Yes. Okay. And, so… when do we leave?"

"We leave now."

—X—

Anna didn't know what to expect when Elsa said she'd drive.

Actually, she thought she knew what to expect. She thought Elsa was going to bring her to a normal car and that they were going to go out and have a normal lunch, in which she blushed seven hundred times and Elsa secretly laughed at her. By the time they made it to the parking garage she had the next hour and a half all planned out.

That was until they walked up to Elsa's motorcycle.

Anna found herself staring at a blue and black, expensive looking sports motorcycle that was so shiny that it looked like it'd never even been taken for so much as a test drive.

"You ever been on one?" Elsa asked, cutting into Anna's thoughts. Anna shook her head, and Elsa shot her a quick smile. "Well, don't be too afraid. I know what I'm doing."

Anna wasn't afraid. Fear hadn't actually crossed her mind. Anna was more concerned about the fact that in just a few minutes she'd be in a position where she had to be wrapped around Elsa's body, holding on for dear life. She wasn't sure if she could handle that. She wasn't sure if her heart could handle that.

She definitely _knew _her body couldn't handle that.

Elsa stepped forward and slid a helmet over Anna's hair. She then proceeded to buckle it under her chin.

Anna tried to remain as still as possible. Elsa was close enough for her to feel the heat radiating from the taller woman's body. She felt like she would explode if she made one wrong move.

Elsa smiled once she finished the buckle, and Anna tried to smile back, but she for some reason couldn't manage to gain complete control of her lips. The platinum blonde then leaned forward, closer than she already was -which was really close- and she pressed her lips to Anna's so gently, so softly, that Anna wasn't sure if they'd actually touched or not.

Anna wanted to cry. It felt like everything in her body had reached the edge and it had nowhere to go. Elsa had gotten her to this point and all she had done was stick a helmet on her head and briefly brush their lips together.

Elsa then pulled back, away from Anna, and smiled once again. "Calm down, Anna. It's going to be fun. I promise," she winked. She then grabbed her own helmet and shoved it over her head, pulling down the eye protection. "Lets hop on."

Elsa climbed on first, and after a moment of attempting to regain leg control, Anna reluctantly climbed on behind her. She was initially afraid to get too close to the older woman, but Elsa reached behind her and grabbed Anna's hands, pulling the freckled woman's arms around her soft waist.

Anna felt herself being pressed against Elsa's back, and she tentatively gripped on to the platinum blonde's sides, not wanting to move too fast and ruin the moment.

"Make sure you hold on tight," Elsa insisted, before starting the motorcycle. "I wouldn't want you to fall off."


	4. In Charge

**Chapter 4: In Charge**

* * *

Anna took in the sight of the busy college track, confused, as she blindly followed Elsa to wherever they were headed. After a couple seconds of silence, she finally inquired into their whereabouts. "Elsa, why did you bring me here?" she asked, apprehensively. "I thought we were going to go get lunch."

Elsa turned around, with her newfound mysterious smirk still gracing her perfect lips. "Lawyers are always working," she laughed. Her smile then faded and she took in a breath. "We're_ going_ to go to lunch, but I had to check something first. I feel like we're getting screwed on this case, and I need to fact check."

"The witness's statement?"

"Yeah," Elsa smiled. "You're already caught up?"

"Mhm," Anna nodded. She then turned and pointed toward a building. "I'm guessing that is the auditorium he came out of." She turned once again and pointed toward the track. "And that is where he saw our client running at the time she was allegedly committing the crime."

"Yeah," Elsa nodded, her eyes giving away how impressed she was by the shorter woman's ability to stay on top of things. "He's pretty confident in his statement, I just want to make sure it all checks out. The prosecution will no doubt try to find a way to rip him apart, and he's all we have for now."

"What about ballistics?"

"It's useless. Our _best_ guy's theory is that a towel somehow teleported across a room. Pretty much all evidence is pointing to our client, so all we have is this witness putting her somewhere else."

Anna took in a breath, and released a sigh. "One more question, Elsa. You _had_ a second chair. Why bring me in in the middle of a case?"

"I needed a fresh set of eyes."

"Sure," Anna agreed, not entirely happy with the answer, but willing to take it for now. "So, what are we checking here?"

Elsa tilted her head and walked Anna to one of the exit doors of the auditorium. It faced the track. "Okay," Elsa started, turning toward the track from just near the exit door. "I think the prosecution is going to argue that he couldn't discern features from this distance, but…" she trailed off. "I don't know."

Anna looked out over the track, trying to figure out what exactly could have happened that night, but she got the sudden urge to check her phone, remembering that she told Kristoff she might stop by during lunch.

_Crap_, she thought as she pulled the device from her pocket. She took one look at the screen before shoving it back into her pocket. She then grabbed Elsa's hand and pulled her away from the auditorium.

"W-what are you doing, Anna?" the platinum blonde stuttered, caught off guard.

Anna dragged Elsa back to the parking area, by the motorcycle, and then she pulled out her phone again. Anna's breathing then picked up, her face flushed with adrenaline. "I think we're looking at the wrong thing, Elsa."

"What do you mean?"

"Performers hate being interrupted by cell phones, so a lot of performance halls -and schools even- have gotten these things that can sort of scramble a cell phone signal."

Elsa folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head. "Can you just spit it out, Anna?"

Anna nodded enthusiastically, her hands shaking. She didn't know why she was this nervous, but she couldn't manage to get ahold of herself. "So," she gulped, her words wanting to come out faster than her mouth could move, "- I got no service over there by the door, but the witness said that he left through that door to call his Mom, and then he saw our client."

"Okay, so maybe he didn't get through to her," Elsa said, skeptical of Anna's claims.

Anna then unlocked her phone, which now had service, and pulled up a map of their location. She turned it toward Elsa, pointing to a street. "He also said that at that point he saw the firetrucks coming down _this _street." She then pointed to another street on the screen. "But this street would be a more direct route between the station and the crime, so why would they take the other?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Im saying he knew the amount of time it would take to get from the crime scene to the track. His story isn't adding up. I think _he _did it, and he wasn't really at the concert. I think the story is a cover up, and it would explain the holes in it."

Elsa squinted at Anna, studying her for a moment. "Okay, but if he did it, why would he volunteer himself as a witness to say that someone else _didn't_ do it? Wouldn't he just let them take the fall for the crime?"

Anna had to pause for a moment to consider why he would do that. She scrolled through the files in her mind trying to pinpoint _any _small detail that could lead to the witness's reasoning. "Oh," she breathed, after a few seconds. "He met our client at a conference and he really liked her work. My guess is that he has a thing for her, and didn't expect her to be the one who got blamed for this."

Elsa blinked a few times, running a hand through her bangs, considering the new line of thinking. She then shook her head. "That may be true, but we can't change our case in the middle of the trial. It'll make the jury think we're fickle. They won't trust us and our client will pay for it."

Anna nodded, an idea popping into her mind. "Not necessarily, you can just create doubt by getting him to incriminate himself during questioning."

Elsa's eyes lightened as a small chuckle escaped from her lips. She silently stared at the ground for a moment before looking to Anna. "I could just kiss you right now," she then whispered. The words effortlessly left her mouth, followed by one of the most heart melting smiles that Anna had ever seen.

Anna cleared her throat several times, looking toward the ground to escape the moment. "S-so," she finally stuttered, not daring to look up. "Maybe we can get lunch now?" Her voice came out as a sort of high pitched shrill that awarded her with the unwanted tinge of color in her cheeks that accompanied embarrassment.

Elsa took a step forward, gently placing a hand under Anna's chin and lifting the shorter woman's head so that their eyes met. "You sure you don't want the kiss?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her, otherwise serious, expression.

Anna swallowed, hard. That was it. That was the tip of the iceberg for her. She was either going to jump Elsa in this parking lot, or she was going to have to verbally confront the platinum blonde about what was happening. She couldn't stay passive in this any longer.

But maybe this was a test.

It obviously seemed like a game to Elsa. Maybe the taller woman was trying to see how Anna would react, grading her on something weird like how she held up under pressure. She couldn't just flat out ask about it, she had to play this cool. "Ah," Anna began, looking into Elsa's eyes, "-I… I uhhh, didn't know you were really offering."

"Oh," Elsa breathed, running her thumb softly over Anna's lips, her hand still resting under the shorter woman's chin. "I'll let you think on it and get back to me, then."

Elsa then dropped her hand and started to turn toward the motorcycle, but Anna grabbed her arm. "I'm not going out with you," she blurted, feeling the need to get _something_ off of her chest, whether it was actually a test or not. She couldn't put up with this any longer. She felt like she was going to implode.

"I didn't ask you to go out with me," Elsa smirked. She then paused, her face shifting as if she were considering the thought. "Do you want to go out with me?"

"You're my boss," Anna exclaimed. "_And_ you're my teacher… mentor… er, well, probation officer type thing."

"I'm also your sister, your mother, your cousin," Elsa mocked, tilting her head from side to side. "Stop making excuses."

Anna squinted her eyes, pointing at Elsa. "I don't want to kiss you."

_Lie._

"Fine," Elsa smiled.

Anna nodded. "And I definitely don't want to have sex with you again."

_Another lie._

"Fine, again," Elsa said, this time with a laugh.

Anna didn't know what prompted her to say _those_ things. She wanted to say something, but maybe those weren't necessarily the best words. Maybe it was just the pressure that was continuing to build up, or Elsa's smug smirk or just… her frustration with this entire situation in general, but she needed to shift the dynamic in this relationship. She needed to find a way to get Elsa to be less unpredictable.

Anna dropped her hand and turned away from Elsa. "Fine. I'm drawing a line in our relationship, and we just need to keep this professional," she asserted.

Elsa took a step toward Anna, placing herself in front of the shorter woman. She then lifted her hand to push a loose strand of hair behind the strawberry-blonde's ear. "Is this line_ imaginary_, or am I going to have to get a mark-"

Anna lunged forward, slightly slamming into Elsa. She wanted it to be more graceful, but that wasn't really what was on her mind at that moment. She pressed her lips to Elsa's, her hands gripping the taller woman's biceps, to stop herself from falling. Once she felt stable enough she pressed more into the kiss that, hopefully, the platinum blonde was willing to return.

After, what Anna surmised as, the initial shock of her actually taking the initiative, Elsa started to kiss her back. The platinum blonde slipped an arm around Anna's waist, placing her hand on the small of her back and the other hand slid up to rest on Anna's neck. She then pulled back for a moment before reentering the kiss, this time taking control.

Anna closed her eyes and drank in the moment, finally able to release some of the tension building inside of her. This kiss had been spontaneous, but now the lawyer in her was telling her to take advantage of it. She couldn't fight off Elsa no matter how hard she tried... She knew that, but there was still a part of her that wasn't ready to admit it.

So she pulled away.

She pulled away from the kiss as smoothly as her clumsy body would allow her, and she gave Elsa the best _smug _smirk she could muster up. The look Elsa returned let her know that the platinum blonde got the message. Anna needed the platinum blonde to know who was _really_ in charge... or she at least needed to assert that she was the one actually calling the shots.

And now she was sure that Elsa knew.

—X—

"You _kished _her?" Kristoff asked, bits of pizza spewing from his full mouth in the exclamation.

Anna nodded, propping her own slice of pizza up with two hands so that the contents wouldn't slide off. "Yeah, I kissed her. I _had _to do something. Besides," Anna smiled, "-I think I got my point across." She then bit into her pizza, closing her eyes at how delicious it was.

Kristoff finished chewing and swallowed his pizza. "The last time we talked you were explaining how you weren't going to call her… and now you've _kissed _her!?"

"Kristoff I've already had sex with her. I don't know why you're so surprised by a kiss."

Kristoff shook his head, slapping his pizza down on the plate in front of him, nearly missing and landing it on Anna's kitchen table instead. "That doesn't matter because right now you're not thinking with your head."

Anna sat her slice down and picked up her coke, taking a sip. "But she's so pretty and smart and perfect… it's hard to-"

"Anna," Kristoff sighed. "You always do this. You get like, fixed on people that you barely know and you always think they're the _one._ Honestly, what lawyer believes in true love?"

"All of them," Anna smiled, "-as long as it wins us the case."

"You're on the dark side."

"You're jealous because I have a hot friend that's a girl… and you only have Sven," Anna laughed. "Have fun with your coffee shop… The one that takes up all the room in your life for a girlfriend."

"Numero uno: Sven makes me money, and two- I have a hot friend that's a girl, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. Especially when she doesn't _listen_, and you're only trying to steer her in the right direction."

"Whatever," Anna shrugged. "Let's drop it and talk about the fact that I may have won us a case today."

"Really? How?"

"I went to check out this thing with Elsa during lunch, and I figured out a hole in someone's statement. I think she was pretty impressed with me."

Kristoff rolled his eyes, picking his pizza back up from his plate. "And are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she's attracted to you?"

"Positive."

"You sure you can handle having to wonder about that distinction as long as you're dating her?" Kristoff asked, taking a bite out of his pizza.

Anna ran a hand through her hair, sighing. "As harsh as it may sound, Kristoff… I think Elsa values her job more than getting laid, so no, I won't have to worry about her putting me on cases I can't handle… because I'm positive she'd never do that."

"Is that all you are to her?"

"I may be even less than that," Anna huffed. "Fact is, I just don't know. I've known her for like a week… but I want to give her a chance. Is that so bad?"

Kristoff took a sip of his coke, considering the question. "Well, I don't want you to get hurt… and Elsa is a tenured, blood-sucking, private firm, senior associate, defense attorney- so it could be bad. But, I also trust you, so I'll leave it up to you to feel this situation out."

"That's literally all I was asking," Anna retorted, making sure to not hold back on the sass.


	5. Giggling

**Chapter 5: Giggling**

* * *

Friday morning came and Anna found herself eager to get the day over with and get out of work. The week had been one of the best one's she'd had in a while, but it had also been one of the tougher ones. The real highlight had been watching Elsa's completely brilliant cross-examination in court. It was like watching a goddess at work. Elsa was the lawyer that Anna someday hoped to be. She couldn't figure out why the older woman wasn't a partner yet because she was pretty sure that it didn't get much better than what she had seen.

Anna also found herself becoming a lot more comfortable being in close proximity with Elsa, even if the older woman had become rather persistent on them going out. She held her ground for a while, but it became increasingly harder to do, the more her feelings grew for Elsa. Anna thought she could play the game where she pretended not to be interested in the older woman. She _thought_ that she could actually convince herself that she wanted nothing to do with the platinum blonde.

But she had been wrong. Horribly wrong.

When Elsa asked her if she'd be free later on, her immediate response was _yes_. Her mind didn't even allow her time to think of a clever response, and uphold her end of their now two week long game of cat and mouse. She just surrendered.

It had been four days since she told Elsa that she didn't want to have sex again, yet now she had the platinum blonde back in her apartment on a Friday evening.

Elsa grabbed her by the waist and turned her around before pressing their lips together. For all of her mysteriousness and smugness, she couldn't hide her real passion when her mouth collided with Anna's.

Anna knew exactly what the taller woman was feeling the moment that their lips connected. She kissed back, long and deep. She then pushed Elsa against the wall as the room began to heat up, kissing her, untucking her shirt. Elsa grabbed Anna's hair, tugging it back and exposing the shorter woman's neck. She started to kiss it, trailing kisses along it, and paying special attention to spot just around Anna's pulse.

Anna started to grind herself against Elsa, reaching for her pants and unbuttoning the top.

Elsa lifted her head, panting. "I only have an hour."

Anna's hands stopped moving and her body stilled. She then brought her eyes forward to meet Elsa's. "Are you saying you can't spend the night?"

"I can't."

"Why not, Elsa?" Anna breathed, frustrated with the way the older woman was acting. The entire push-pull thing was starting to get a little tiring. She either wanted to be with Anna, or she didn't… and even if she didn't, she could at least have the common decency to not leave immediately after sex.

"I just can't," Elsa countered, weakly.

Anna rolled her eyes and took a step back, untangling herself from the older woman. "It's the chase," she whispered.

"What?"

"The thrill," Anna began, realization setting in. "I've been wondering why you're so interested in me. I mean you're my boss… This is probably against the rules… and on top of that, I keep saying no, but you keep coming back. It's the chase. That's what this is. This is a game to you." She swallowed, trying to stay calm, but failing. "Not to me. This isn't a game to me. I still have something to prove here. I'm not some hotshot lawyer. I refuse to crap away my career for this."

It was a little to late for her logical thinking to kick in, but here it was, in full gear. She probably shouldn't have said yes to Elsa. She had manipulated herself into this position that she really didn't want to be in. If she had _anything_ with Elsa it was going to have substance. It wasn't going to be _this. _

And maybe it had been foolish or naive of her to think that Elsa wanted the same, when in reality their first encounter had, in fact, been a one night stand. That's probably what the older woman was _still_ going for.

Elsa stood silent for a moment, her shirt untucked and crumpled, her pants unbuttoned, her chest heaving and her forehead damp. She then lifted a hand, moving her bangs back off her face. "I like you, Anna."

Anna let out a frustrated grunt as she turned in a circle, running an exasperated hand through her hair. "Elsa just tell me what this is… because I don't do casual, no-strings-attached sex. Even the last time we had sex I woke up wishing you were there."

She meant this with every fiber of her being. There were a lot of things that she could convince herself of, but this wasn't one of them. She couldn't deny her nature, and her nature was to get attached. _Shit_, she was already attached, and her and Elsa hadn't even really done much other than have drunken sex and a couple of heated kisses.

"That's not what this is, Anna," came Elsa's excuse.

It fell a hundred steps short of satisfaction. She could have elaborated, but she didn't. Now wasn't the time to be cryptic. Now was the time to let it out and be an adult about the situation. Now was the time to own up to real intentions.

Anna looked to Elsa, studying her eyes, trying to figure out what the older woman could possibly be thinking. "Then why can't you spend the night?"

Elsa lifted a hand, making a move toward Anna. "I'm sorry-"

"Save it, Elsa," Anna interrupted harshly, fully aware that Elsa probably didn't have a real excuse. If she allowed the taller woman to keep talking she'd probably get lawyered into doing something she'd regret. Anna bowed her head and pointed toward the door. "Maybe I was right the first time when I said we should keep it professional. You should probably leave n-"

"I have a son," Elsa blurted, her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. Anna lifted her gaze, frozen, and Elsa nodded. "His name's Olaf. He has these bright hazel eyes, a small nose, puffy cheeks, and a sort of built-in innocence that makes your heart melt every time you talk to him. I can't spend the night because I have to go home to my son, okay?"

Anna kept her finger pointed at the door and watched as a tear slid down Elsa's cheek. She then closed her eyes and took in a breath. There was this part of her, right at the front of her mind, telling her to send Elsa home. It told her that she needed to end this.

This was her sign from God.

This was some cosmic entity telling her that she needed to get out of this relationship. There were some things in life that Anna just wasn't prepared for. She didn't know how to react to the fact that Elsa had a son. She could barely brush her own hair in the morning, let alone think about some day being responsible for a tiny human.

Anna dropped her hand.

Elsa stepped closer, lifting her hand and running a thumb across Anna's cheek. "Say something, Anna. Please say something. I mean, you're not running, which is a good thing… or freaking out. You're not freaking out, but you're also not talking, so I don't really-"

"Can I meet him?"

Anna didn't want to fight with Elsa about this and she didn't want to make a hasty decision. She was still slightly turned on, frustrated, and breathless, but her mind felt clear and the only thought she was having was that she needed to meet Elsa's son, because that was the only way she'd ever know whether or not she needed to end this before it started.

It sounded crazy, even to her, but she recognized that she was entering that sector of adulthood where it was highly possible that the women she dated would have children. But for some reason, for some odd reason, this was still slamming into her like a speeding train. Maybe it wasn't the fact that Elsa _had_ a son… maybe it was the fact that _Elsa _had a son.

"What do you mean _meet _him?" Elsa whispered. "Like tonight? Do you want to go see him tonight?"

Anna nodded. "That would be best."

Elsa shook her head, taking a step back, collecting herself. "I don't like introducing people to my son."

"I'm not _people,_" Anna nearly shouted. "I'm not people, Elsa, and you know that."

"He gets attached, Anna-"

"I get attached! I get attached to people," Anna cried. "You know that. You _knew _that… the moment you wiped that chocolate off of my face you knew you had me wrapped around your finger, but you didn't let up."

"Fine," Elsa acquiesced. "You can meet him, but you get five minutes. You introduce yourself, say you work with me. No endearments, no… anything, okay?"

—X—

Anna twisted her hands together as Elsa pulled the keys to her apartment from her pocket.

"Don't be so nervous," Elsa coaxed. "He's a really sweet kid."

Anna took in a breath and turned to Elsa, pulling her hands apart and shoving them in her jacket pockets instead. "That's not what I'm nervous about."

She didn't really know what _exactly_ she was nervous about or, better put, what exactly she _wasn't _nervous about. She was about to meet Elsa's child, her flesh and blood. She didn't know what proper etiquette in this situation was. Could she hug him? Could she call him cute?

Probably not.

Elsa had strictly told her multiple times on the way to the apartment that none of that would be allowed. She just had to introduce herself, and then she needed to be gone.

Elsa opened the door to her apartment and Anna first took in the size. The place was massive, with a large glass wall-window on one side, complete with a spectacular view. The floor space was open, and if their weren't toys scattered about, it'd be hard to tell that a child actually lived here.

Anna turned to Elsa to comment on the apartment, but a petite redhead wearing an oversized sweater turned from the hallway. She looked about sixteen and she had braces and her hair in a ponytail. As soon as she appeared, a small boy came spilling out from behind her, sprinting toward Elsa. He looked about four or five and he had on little, tiny gym shorts and a white hooded sweater that looked like a snowman.

He pulled the hood over his head as he ran toward Elsa. "Look, Mommy! I'm a snowman."

Once he got closer to Elsa, he stopped abruptly, looking to Anna. He then started to jump and giggle, his over-grown messy brown hair flopping under the hood. "Hi, I'm Olaf!" He beamed up at Anna. "I like warm hugs."

Anna immediately started to grin, hit with the full effect of his contagious smile. "I'm Anna," she responded. "I like warm hugs, too."

"Wanna hug?" he giggled, his voice full of excitement.

Anna turned to Elsa, unsure of how to respond, but before either one of them could say anything, Olaf wrapped himself around Anna's leg. Anna laughed, nervously, shrugging in Elsa's direction.

Elsa shrugged back, flashing Anna a benign smile that only a proud mother could own, before walking toward the babysitter. Olaf unwrapped himself from Anna, running toward the babysitter as well.

"Thanks for watching him so last minute. I appreciate it," Elsa said to the babysitter. Her and Olaf then walked the girl to the door, sending her on her way.

Anna sucked in a breath, a million thoughts racing through her mind. Olaf was probably one of the most adorable kids she had ever seen, but she still didn't know if this was something that she could take on. She walked toward the big glass wall-window of Elsa's apartment and looked out over the city. Immediately under the window was a large, brightly lit fountain.

Anna felt a tiny hand grab hers, and she looked down to see Olaf holding on to her, pointing out of the window. "Look, Anna. The water is green like my favorite color."

Anna looked down at the water, before looking back to Olaf. She gave his hand a squeeze, his small fingers resting comfortably in her palm, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of calming warmth wash over her. "Actually," she began, "I don't think it's green. I think it's fluorescent."

"What's fluor… es… cent?" Olaf asked, craning his neck and tilting his head up to get a better view of Anna. Elsa came and joined them by the window, leaning against the glass.

Anna thought for a moment, considering how to respond. She then took in a breath and released it, settling on the best answer she could think of. "Fluorescent means it's lit from within."

Olaf's eyes lit up as a lazy smile rested on his lips, he then scratched his chin, a habit he had probably taken up doing to mean he was thinking about something, and he looked to the ground. "Okay," he finally began. He then paused for another moment before smiling up at Anna. "Am I fluorescent?"

Elsa looked at Anna, holding the moment, her smile saying she knew it was as fleeting as it was special. She then stepped forward and pulled Olaf's hood from his head, ruffling his already messy hair. "Yes, Olaf, you are fluorescent," she laughed. She picked him up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "And it's time for you to go to bed."

Olaf giggled, looking back to Anna. "Can we be friends, Anna?"

Anna looked between Olaf and Elsa, hoping that she'd find the right answer on one of their faces. She still had doubts in her mind, but seeing the two of them made it hard to want to walk away.

Elsa offered Anna a warm, genuine smile as she lifted an unceasingly giggling Olaf over her shoulder. "It's really not about the chase."


	6. I'm Olaf

**Chapter 6: I'm Olaf**

Anna told Elsa that she needed time.

She needed time to think this through because she had a bad habit of jumping head first into things without stopping to consider the finer details. It was a wonder that she knew her head from her foot when she was in the court room. Anna needed to think about whether or not she was ready to enter into a relationship where a child was involved. She asked Elsa for time because she needed to think about this situation objectively, but she was finding that it was nearly impossible to do that.

She had held Olaf's tiny little hand. He hugged her. He talked to her. They had spent five minutes together and he had somehow left a very large imprint for someone who happened to be so small.

But she couldn't let herself be blinded by that.

There were other issues that needed to be considered. The question that seemed to be at the front of her mind was whether or not Olaf's father was still in the picture… or whether or not that even mattered. Another thing Anna wondered about was Elsa's past. If Olaf was four, that meant that as little as five years ago, Elsa had been with a man or in a relationship where someone wanted children. Had she been married? Was it a long term relationship? How had it ended? And, once again, did any of that actually matter?

Meeting Olaf had complicated, what would have other wise been, a black and white decision.

Anna got out of her car and shut the door behind her as she headed toward her apartment. She'd had two days to mull this situation over and she had managed to get nowhere. Elsa said she liked Anna, but how long was she wiling to wait for the freckled woman to make a decision?

_Probably not that long_, Anna thought.

She walked up the stairs of her building and let herself into her apartment. She had spent the day in the park by her favorite pond, watching a family of ducks waddle around. It had been calming and relaxing, but that still hadn't been enough to push her to a definite yes or no, although she was beginning to lean more toward the yes side. What was really holding her back was the possibility of there being some untold reality that she was missing. She had brief interactions with Elsa outside of work, but what would happen if the older woman became a permanent fixture in her life? She wanted to know if she would be allowed to stay over at Elsa's apartment because, with Olaf, Elsa spending the night at her's really wasn't an option. There were little details that she kept getting snagged on, and however much she may have been overthinking the entire thing, they were still playing a big role in her decision.

As soon as Anna set her purse down, her cell phone began to ring. She then pulled the buzzing device from her pocket to check who the timely intruder was. She picked up once she saw her father's name. "Hey, Dad. What's going on? I meant to call and check on you and Mom this weekend, but I've just had a lot on my mind."

"I'm fine, honey. It's… It's about your mother," he said with some hesitation. He then paused for a moment, cleared his throat. "Look, Anna. You said you have a lot on your mind and I don't want to worry you too much."

Anna took in a deep breath, clutching her phone tighter as she hurriedly walked to the kitchen to take a seat. She slowly slid down into the closest chair at her kitchen table. "No, Dad. Tell me. What's going on? What happened?" She was trying to sound calm, but the worry in her voice was obvious despite her efforts.

Her father let out a sigh on the other end. She could tell that he didn't want to tell her, but she needed to know. After a short pause he began to speak again, this time gentler. "I'm sure it's nothing," he started, "-… she was just in her garden and she sort of collapsed. I called an ambulance, and she's in with the doctors right now. I thought you should know in case you want to stop by. It isn't necessary, though. I'm sure everything is fine."

"Where are you?"

"We're at North Mountain Medical Center. Anna, I have to go. Everything is going to be fine. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

And then the phone was silent.

Anna sat at the table for a moment, not moving. She wasn't sure what to do. Her father had said that everything was going to be fine… and she wanted to believe him, she really did, but everything else inside of her was telling her to panic. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to either of her parents. She still needed them. Sure, she was an adult now, but she still needed them. She needed people to call and complain to when she got sick. She needed someone to tell whenever she won a case. She couldn't lose the most important people in her life.

After a minute of sitting still, Anna slowly lowered the phone from her ear and stared at the screen as if it would somehow, magically give her the answers she was searching for. Just when she thought her life couldn't get more complicated, this happened. She needed to call someone. She needed to talk to someone to set her straight, calm her down.

She pressed Kristoff's name and put the phone to her ear. She hadn't told him that Elsa had a child. She hadn't told him that she met that child. She had deliberately been keeping this information away from him, because she knew what he would say… but he didn't know Elsa. Granted, neither did she, _really_, but she'd spent enough time with the older woman to actually put more than two seconds of thought into the situation.

Kristoff didn't pick up the phone and Anna started to feel more on edge than she did before. She really needed to talk to someone, and the only other person that she had to call was... _Elsa_.

But she couldn't call Elsa.

She hadn't come to a decision about the state of their relationship yet. If Elsa asked about it she wouldn't know what to say. Anna sucked in a deep, slightly calming breath and decided that she'd just have to take that chance. She needed to speak to _someone_. She pressed Elsa's name and once again lifted the phone to her ear.

Elsa picked up after one ring. "Hey, Anna. I was starting to worry that I wouldn't hear from you again."

Anna froze.

She no longer understood why she wanted to call Elsa. She couldn't just pick up the phone and expect Elsa to care beyond general sympathy about her mother being in the hospital. She didn't even know how she was supposed to start a conversation like that. Now, calling Elsa just seemed like a bad idea entirely.

Elsa cleared her throat on the other end, and released a long breath. "I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't… I don't want to put any pressure on you. I understand if I'm not someone you're inter-"

"That's not why I called," Anna said, finally finding her voice.

"Oh, what is it? Is everything okay?"

Anna blinked a few times, shifting her grip on the phone as her palm started to sweat. "Why do you think something bad happened?" she asked, shakily. "I could just want to talk. It's not okay to call just to talk?"

"N-no, that's fine," Elsa stuttered, trying to follow the conversation. "If you just want to talk, that's okay. I just want to listen, then."

"No, Elsa. You need to talk. Tell me something. Tell me anything," Anna pleaded. She just wanted to get out of her head for a moment, and she needed Elsa to help her do that.

"Anna…" Elsa breathed. She then paused for a moment. "It's fine if you call me and just want to talk… but I'm not going to pretend like nothing is wrong. Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"It's my mom."

"Is she okay?"

"She's in the hospital."

Elsa didn't speak for a moment and the two women just sat in a knowing silence. "Which hospital is she in?" Elsa finally asked.

"North Mountain Medical Center."

"Okay, she's in good hands, then," Elsa consoled. "I'm sure everything will be okay."

Anna shook her head, slamming her eyes shut to prevent any tears from falling. Everyone kept saying that things were going to be okay. Why was she the only one worried? Why was she the only one that cared that things might not be okay? "How do you know that, Elsa? How are you sure? You don't even know the situation," she snapped.

"Anna-"

"No," Anna interrupted. "I'm sorry… I have to go. I have to go now."

She hung up the phone and she stood from the kitchen chair. She needed to go see her mother.

—X—

Anna walked through the waiting room of the hospital, picking up her pace when she laid eyes on her father. Once she reached him, he pulled her into a hug. "Hey, Anna. It's gonna be okay. It really is," he coaxed. Anna pulled back from the hug and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her father then gave her a loving smile. "Your mother is in with the doctor right now, but you should be able to go in in about ten minutes. They want to keep her over night for some tests, but she looks fine now. I'm going to run back to the house and pick up some things, okay?"

"Okay," Anna nodded. "I love you, Dad," she then added, making sure that he knew.

"I know," he smiled. He then placed a kiss on her forehead, and gave her arm a squeeze. "I love you, too. I'll be back before you know I'm gone."

He began to walk away and Anna turned to watch him leave, but she found herself staring into the eyes of Elsa. Next to the older woman, clinging onto her hand, was Olaf. They were both wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, and Elsa's hair was tied up in a ponytail, but it wasn't braided like it normally was. She didn't have on any lipstick, or any makeup whatsoever for that matter. There was something very calming about the sight. Elsa had showed up with Olaf and it was, no doubt, probably past his bedtime. This trip wasn't planned, or a calculated move to get Anna to like her. It was spur of the moment. She hadn't taken the time to find a babysitter or even alter her appearance. She had come to the hospital simply because she cared about the younger woman.

Olaf's face lit up as he and Elsa approached Anna. He was wearing a backpack that would be small compared to a normal one, but it still looked large on him. "Hey, Anna!" he chirped, a big grin on his face. "I'm supposed to be asleep but Mama said we were taking a field trip." He was overly honest in a way that kids sometimes were, and Anna found it completely adorable.

Elsa kneeled down, with a schooled parental smile on her face. "Hey, buddy," she whispered. "You go sit on that chair over there and play with your action figures while I talk to Anna. Don't move. Stay where I can see you." Olaf smiled and nodded as he turned and ran for the chair. "No running," Elsa called after him, but he continued on his path in the same fashion. She then gave up on the request as she turned to Anna. "Sorry to just show up like this, but you worried me on the phone."

"It's fine," Anna breathed, not sure how to approach this situation. She was just hoping that Elsa didn't bother bringing up the idea of them going out, at least not tonight. She didn't have the strength to be worrying about two things at once.

"How is she?"

Anna shrugged, looking down at her hands. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her yet, but my dad says she's okay."

"That's good," Elsa smiled. She then paused and looked off to her left. "Hold on, Anna." Anna looked up and followed Elsa's gaze to Olaf, who had somehow left his chair, and was now on his way back, carrying three magazines in his hands. "What are you doing, Olaf?" Elsa asked.

Olaf stopped and turned to Elsa, a completely innocent look on his face. "I'm just getting the magazines so that I can do the… so that I can read," he said, turning and continuing to walk toward the chair. He then sat the magazines down and turned back around, walking away from the chair again.

Elsa sighed and closed her eyes, briefly, before reopening them. "Where are you going, Olaf?"

"I just want to get _one_ more magazine, okay?" He asked, holding up a finger.

Elsa nodded, defeated. "Fine. One more, and then get your behind in that seat." She then turned back to Anna. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm here if you need me, but if you want me to go, I can."

Anna shook her head. "No, I want you to stay." She meant it. For some reason she felt better having Elsa and Olaf there. Maybe it took her mind off of things, or maybe she just liked being in their presence.

Elsa turned back toward Olaf, who had picked up two magazines and was making his way back to his seat. "Olaf I told you _one_ more magazine," Elsa called out.

Olaf stopped and turned toward Elsa. He paused for a moment, looking down at the magazines before lifting one in the air with one hand. "Well, this is _one _magazine," he said, lowering it and lifting the other one, "-and this is _one _magazine." He then turned and made his way back to the seat.

A laugh involuntarily escaped from Anna's mouth, and after a couple of seconds she was all out giggling. Elsa turned toward her, lifting a brow. "You think this is funny?" she smirked. "I have to deal with it everyday."

"But he's so adorable," Anna countered. "And from the sounds of it, he'll make an excellent lawyer some day."

"Well, at some point you get used to him being adorable, and then he's just disobedient," Elsa retorted. "And please don't jinx him into being a lawyer," she laughed.

Anna turned, staring at Olaf sitting on the chair, flipping through the magazine too fast to be reading anything. "Do you really get used to how adorable he is?" she asked, mindlessly.

Elsa shook her head. "Nah," she breathed. "You never do… but you learn how to tell him no."

A doctor then walked into the waiting room and looked around for a moment before calling out, "Mr. Christensen?"

Anna was pulled from her thoughts by the name and she held up a hand, walking in the doctor's direction. "Hey," she smiled as she approached him. "My name is Anna. I'm Gerda Christensen's daughter. Is that who you're here for?"

He nodded and gave Anna a polite smile. "Yes. You can go in and visit her, now. She's doing okay right now, but we'd just like to keep her over night to run some routine tests and make sure that everything checks out. If you want to follow me, she's right this way," he finished, turning to lead Anna down the hall.

"Hold on a sec," Anna said, turning back toward Elsa. "Hey, do you maybe… want to meet my mom?" she asked the older woman. Elsa opened her mouth in what looked to be a protest, but Anna waved a hand in her direction. "C'mon, Elsa. She'd love to meet you."

—X—

The room that Gerda was in had light blue walls and there was a small plant sitting on the side table next to a pitcher of water. Gerda was in bed with the top half lifted, so that she was in a sitting position, rather than lying down. When Anna, Elsa, and Olaf entered, her face lit up. "Who's that little guy?" she smiled, pointing to Olaf. She had always had a special love for children.

Olaf smiled up at her, giggling as a small blush crept up his cheeks. "I'm Olaf," he said, bashfully.

Elsa smiled, removing her hands from her jeans pockets. "Hi," she waved. "My name is Elsa. I'm Anna's friend. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Christensen."

"Oh, you can just call me Gerda," Anna's mother proclaimed.

Olaf stood on the tips of his toes, peeking over the side of the bed. "You can just call me Olaf," he laughed.

"You wanna sit up here with me, Olaf?" Gerda asked. Olaf nodded vigorously, looking expectantly up at Elsa. Elsa then bent down and lifted him, placing him on the bed next to Gerda. "How old are you, Olaf?" The older woman then asked, smiling broadly.

Olaf looked down at his hands, using one to maneuver the other. He then held up four fingers, proudly. "I'm four! How old are you?"

"A lot older than four," Gerda laughed.

Anna walked forward and placed a hand over her mother's. She hated to interrupt this cute moment, but she knew her mother was just trying to deter everyone's minds from the fact that she was sitting in a hospital. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "Is everything okay?"

Gerda nodded, looking to Anna. "I probably just overworked myself, Anna. There's no need for you to be worried. I'll be fine, okay?"

Anna sighed, closing her eyes. "Please be careful," she pleaded, opening her eyes again. "Do you know how it feels to get a call like that? I was freaking out."

"Did you get hurted?" Olaf asked, jumping into the conversation.

Gerda turned back towards him, smiling. "No, Olaf. I just needed a checkup."

"Oh," he responded, quietly. "When I get a checkup I get dinosaur stickers and green lollipops. Green is my favorite color," he yawned, rubbing his eyes.

Elsa bent forward, picking him up from the bed and placing him on her hip. She gave Gerda a slight smile before looking to Anna. "I'm glad everything is okay here, but I should probably get him to bed so he won't be tired tomorrow."

Anna nodded, understandingly. "Okay, I'll walk you out." She then turned back toward her mother. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," Gerda replied. She then looked to Elsa. "He's a really bright boy. Enjoy them while they're small."

"Thank you, Mrs. Christen… er- Gerda. I hope you're back up to speed soon."

Anna followed Elsa out of the room and through the waiting room. By the time they made it to the exit of the hospital, Olaf was fully asleep. Elsa turned toward Anna before exiting. "Go on a date with me," she stated. "Just one date. No sex… just us getting to know each other. No games or lies, or any withholding of information that can directly impact our relationship. Just a date… No pressure."

Anna took in a breath, staring at the peacefully sleeping Olaf. "Okay. Just a date."


	7. Start Over

**A/N: Hey guys and gals, thanks for reading, and thanks for all of the reviews. I enjoy each response, and the amount of enthusiasm for this story that you peeps seem to have. It means a lot! Stay cool. **

**Also, breaking the date into two parts.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Start Over**

Anna looked up as Elsa plopped a folder down in front of her. The older woman then placed her hands on Anna's desk and leaned forward with her signature smirk. "You've been assigned lead on a case," she said. "Brian will be your second chair."

Anna picked the folder up and flipped through the papers, mindlessly, for a moment, not actually reading anything. She then sat it back down and looked up to Elsa. "If you keep showing me this much attention, people are going to start thinking you like me," she smiled, tilting her head.

Elsa let out a small laugh before lifting herself from Anna's desk. She then took in a deep breath. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but this one wasn't me. Hans put you on this. Guess he's impressed by your skills… or he wants to see you fail."

"What makes you say that?"

Elsa shrugged. "When I was you… years ago as a first year associate, I wouldn't have even known where to start on this case."

Anna nodded, picking up the folder and opening it again. This time she looked over the pages more intently, attempting to get an actual feel for the case. Whenever she read files there were always words and numbers that felt like they jumped out to her. Her doctor had called it synesthesia, or something rather, but in her job she just called it a blessing. After about a minute she put the folder on the desk again, looking back to Elsa. "Well I'd start with getting a copy of the doctor's request for a patent. They argued that it was a simple modification on an already existing model, but we should see what the doctor had to say about it."

Elsa nodded, impressed. "You're good. It makes my job a lot easier. I like how you didn't come in here flailing around in the water like you were drowning."

"Well, _sharks_ are born swimming," Anna winked.

"Wow," Elsa breathed, "-not only are you cute and smart, but you're funny as well. They say the key to a man's heart is to be able to make him laugh."

"Yeah, but what's the key to a woman's heart?"

Elsa looked down with a smile, her cheeks turning the s_lightest_ shade of red. She then looked back up when she had gained a sufficient amount of control over her facial muscles. "I don't know," she started, "-but I'll let you know when I find out." She then paused, staring at Anna wordlessly for a few seconds. "You excited about our date tonight?" she finally asked, her voice low and calm.

"Yeah," Anna smiled, "-I'm almost done sewing up my green dress."

Elsa laughed again, softly, looking back down at the floor before returning her eyes to Anna. "Maybe laughter is _also_ the key to a woman's heart."

"Maybe," Anna responded, deciding to keep her response short for fear of ruining the moment they were having… or what at least _seemed_ like a moment. It always felt like there was a spark of electricity that would flicker between them at the most random times, and then it would leave just as fast as it came. Anna didn't really have a name or a reasoning for this feeling, but she always felt like there was something bigger underneath these small moments.

"You ever get this feeling of transcendence?" Elsa asked, her eyes focused on a spot on Anna's desk, and her mind obviously somewhere else. "It's almost spiritual," she whispered, looking to Anna. There was something burning deep in her eyes, something that Anna couldn't figure out, but it felt truly honest. Elsa swallowed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "And I only get this feeling when I'm…" She trailed off and took in breath. Her eyes then snapped back to normal and she flashed Anna a smile. "I have to go." She looked at her watch. "I have a meeting to get to."

She then promptly turned, and exited the office.

Anna sat in silence for a moment. She would have responded before Elsa left, or at least tried to halt her exit, but she had been frozen by the look in the older woman's eyes. She thought that Elsa seemingly letting her in, and telling her about Olaf would be like a door opening, giving her a look into the platinum blonde's mind… but in reality it just made things more complicated. Instead of shedding light on Elsa's personality, the fact that Olaf existed just added a weird dichotomy of Elsa being a fierce, no-nonsense lawyer, _and_ a soft, caring, loving mother. It didn't shed light on her personality; it just added a new layer, one that also needed to be deciphered.

Anna sucked in a breath and grabbed the folder from her desk as she stood from her chair. She could think about Elsa after work. Right now she needed to figure out why and how Hans had somehow got her in his sights. She couldn't think of anything bad that she had done, or any reason for him to target her. She'd done her part in the class action, and she had managed to actually be useful in the case that she worked with Elsa. If Hans was searching for a reason to fire her, she couldn't figure out why.

She made it to the stairs and walked up a couple floors, headed toward Hans' office. When she got there she found him at his desk, looking over some work. She then knocked and pressed the door open slightly. "Sorry to bother you, Hans, but do you have a minute?"

Hans looked up and flashed her a charming smile, beckoning her in. She took a couple steps into the office, but didn't bother getting too close or taking a seat. Once she stopped walking, he began to speak again. "What's the problem."

"Uhhh… uhm, no problem," she corrected, lifting a hand. "I was just wondering why… well, why you put me on this case?"

"Do you not want it?"

"O-of course I do," she stuttered. Anna took in a deep breath, collecting herself. She then cleared her throat. "I hate questioning good things that happened to me, but sometimes things just make me wonder and, well, I'm a lawyer so asking questions is kind of what I do… I mean-"

Hans laughed, holding up a hand to halt her rambling. "I assigned you to the case because Elsa said you did a good job working with her. I want to see if it was just beginner's luck or if you can actually hold up on your own in a tough case. That's all it is. Now, if you don't have anymore questions, I think I'd better get back to work."

Anna nodded, blushing. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"Don't thank me, just win."

—X—

"Hans asked me what I was going to do with you."

Anna adjusted her white and orange-accented dress before taking a seat across from Elsa at the small, intimate table. She then fixed the platinum blonde with a questioning smile. "What does he mean by that?"

Elsa smiled back, looking up from her glass of wine. "He says you're smart, a quick learner, and good on your toes, but you're about as intimidating as a box of puppies." She paused, taking a sip of her wine before setting it down. "I'm inclined to agree with him."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"You cant always win cases on being smart," Elsa stated. "The court room is just as much of an act as it is a battle of wits. How many jury trials have you been in? Talking to a judge is one thing, but convincing a jury is a different story. I'm just-"

"I get it," Anna cut in. "I'm shy, timid, and fidgety. _Maybe_ the jury can't trust me. Everything I was told in my mock trial back in law school coming back to haunt me." She paused, rolling her eyes. "I can handle myself in court, Elsa. I know how to play this game, so try not to bet against me."

Elsa sucked in a breath, momentarily shocked by Anna's somewhat brusque retort. "I-I wasn't… I… am sorry about that," she finally finished. "What law school did you go to?" she asked, her shaky smile saying that she only wished to change the topic.

"Samford."

"Oh, Stanford, that's-"

"No," Anna interrupted, holding up a hand. "_Sam_ford. It's in like the top hundred-forty law schools, not the top three. Which law school did you go to?"

Elsa tugged at the sleeve of her expensive navy blue cashmere sweater. "I went to Harvard," she whispered.

"Right. Wish I had a chance to get some of that superb lawyer training," Anna smiled, sarcastically.

Elsa rubbed her hand over her face, letting out a strained, and somewhat frustrated, moan. She then straightened herself and put on a smile, staring into Anna's eyes. "My name's Elsa."

"What are you doing? I know your name," Anna said, her face twisting in confusion.

"Well," Elsa breathed, "-I offended you and… I want this date to go well because I really like you, so I'm just going to start over. If we keep going like this things will just be tense between us and I don't want that. It's my fault it's even happening in the first place, and I'm really sorry. Let's just start over."

Anna nodded, understanding where Elsa was coming from. It seemed like their relationship was just starting to turn into a bunch of miscommunications, and it hadn't even really started yet. "It's like we're standing in our own way. Why do we do this?" she asked.

"Fear of rejection?"

Anna smiled, taking a sip of her wine. "Well, Elsa," she started, "-Do you like me? I mean, _like_ like me?"

Elsa nodded, smiling as well, fighting to keep from laughing. "Yes, Anna. I do _like_ like you. Do you_ like_ like me?"

Anna placed her glass back down on the table. "Yup."

Elsa rearranged the placing of the silverware on the table next to her. "So what are your hobbies, Anna?"

"Wine and chocolate," Anna stated, with as much class as possible. "And Lifetime movies on Sunday afternoons. What are yours?"

Elsa absent-mindedly ran a hand through her bangs, shifting in her chair. "I like reading Voltaire poetry in bed at night."

After a few moments of silence, both women burst into laughter. The tension seemed to all at once be lifted, and the mood shifted into a more comfortable zone. Anna crossed her legs, propped her elbow on the table, and placed her chin into her palm. "What do you think of isolationism?"

Elsa mimicked Anna's pose, leaning in toward the strawberry-blonde. "I'm all for isolationism. I think America needs to stay out of the affairs of other countries, and maybe we'll stop being a target to everything and everyone. We need to help ourselves before we help anyone else."

"So you're an isolationist?" Anna smirked.

"I guess so," Elsa replied. "I argued this topic back in policy debate in high school. I'm like the queen of isolationism, you don't want to get into this with me."

Anna started to laugh, bowing her head. "Okay, okay. I don't agree with your views," she said, looking up, "-but it's kind of… _hot_ that you did policy. I did too. Also did Model United Nations in undergrad."

"So did I," Elsa smiled. "M.U.N. was totally my thing in college. I dedicated so much time to that. I used to love overseeing the high school conferences. I felt so powerful. Like, do you ever get the feeling that you're exactly where you're supposed to be?"

"Yeah," Anna whispered. She knew the exact feeling that Elsa was speaking of, because that happened to be what she was feeling at that precise moment. As little as two weeks ago she had thought of Elsa as the most intimidating person she had ever come across in her twenty-five years. She thought Elsa was mysterious and just… she never imagined that Elsa was a mother, or a debater, or did all the same things that she had done… and had all the same feelings that she had about those things.

It was hard to imagine that she was anything like Elsa, or better put, it was hard to imagine that Elsa was anything like _her_.

Elsa leaned back in her chair, looking around. "What do you say we skip out on this fancy restaurant, and get a couple of grade-A sandwiches instead? I know a good place."

—X—

Anna shoved the end of her sandwich into her mouth as Elsa watched from across the diner table, a smirk on her face. Her smile widened as Anna let out a small, satisfied moan while chewing. "I told you these were the best sandwiches."

Anna finished chewing and nodded. "They really are, how did you find this place?"

"About once a month Olaf and I find a completely new restaurant and we go eat there. He really likes sandwiches, but he can never finish them, so I always end up taking on part of the task. Anyway, he ordered one here and it was just divine."

"He's probably the cutest kid I've ever seen."

Anna paused after that statement. For a moment she thought that now might be the time to ask Elsa some of the questions that had been burning a hole in her mind. She wondered if she should ask about Olaf's father or his whereabouts. But, after a couple seconds of pondering, she figured if it was important, that Elsa would just bring it up herself, so she decided to not try to stir up trouble.

Anna took another bite of her sandwich and chewed it before asking, "So, where's Olaf tonight?"

Elsa looked down at her own sandwich, cutting it into pieces as if it was a gourmet steak. "He's spending the night at a friend's house." She looked up. "It's his first sleepover ever. I'm sort of nervous about it. He's asked before, but I've been reluctant to say yes."

"What made you say yes this time?"

Elsa shrugged. "I just remembered how much I enjoyed sleepovers, and I thought about how it's been a while since I've gotten the chance to have one… So, I figured letting him go could be beneficial for the both of us. There wouldn't be anything pressing calling me home in the middle of the night, and he gets to have fun with his friend."

Anna put her sandwich down, tilted her head. She was slightly confused by what Elsa was trying to say. She assumed they wouldn't be having sex, not because she didn't want to, but simply because Elsa said they wouldn't be having sex. But, now that the option was on the table, she couldn't find any reason that they shouldn't…

Elsa looked down at her food before adding, "Just in case."


	8. Partner

**A/N: This took a little long for me to get out, and the next chapter will probably come a week from now, so I tried not to leave this on a big cliffhanger... I think ahaha.**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews, and enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Partner**

"Is it normal to get called this late at night for a case? Because I have a few reasons why this should be illegal."

"Just think of it in terms of billable hours and higher salaries and everything starts to sound a little better."

Anna stepped out of the car and straightened her dress, then she took in a breath and considered Elsa's statement for a moment. "No," she said, turning to the older woman, "-I'm pretty much paid a flat rate as an associate, except for the _bonus _at the end of the year. So, I'm pretty sure I should just stick to my disdain for being called somewhere at eleven at night."

Elsa placed a hand on Anna's back and gave her an encouraging nudge toward the large estate that they had just pulled up in front of. "Look, the firm just realized that our client didn't sign part of the form and we need his signature by midnight or the merger doesn't go through. We just have to get the signature, then we can continue our date."

"And what happens if the merger doesn't go through?"

Elsa let out a small laugh as she began to walk. "Our firm will lose something a little north of twenty-two million dollars."

Elsa kept walking, but Anna just stayed rooted to her spot because twenty-two million dollars was kind of a lot of pressure and the firm just put two random _associates_ on the job. Something about that didn't seem right and Anna was sort of starting to wonder if she _was _getting some sort of preferential treatment. But, then again, _she _wasn't actually put on the case. Elsa was. And she just happened to be with Elsa, so— maybe that did _kind of_ go in the category of preferential treatment, but—

"Are you coming or not, Anna? We really need to get this done, and this guy isn't really known for being the easiest to talk to or reason with."

Anna snapped back to reality and quickly started to shuffle toward Elsa because at the end of the day, a job still needed to be done — whether it meant she was getting preferential treatment or not. She finally caught up to Elsa right outside the door.

Elsa knocked. "Get your breathing under control, Anna. We need to appear intimidating and in control and we can't do that while you're having an asthma attack. We get in, get the signatures, and get out. Don't get distracted."

Anna got her last bit of panting out of the way before sucking in a deep breath and calming her breathing. "What would I get distracted by?"

The door opened and a man stepped aside, gesturing them in. Behind him Anna could see many people scuffling about in party-attire and there was the muffled sound of music coming from off in another room. Elsa turned to her with a smile as she she stepped through the door. "He's throwing a party."

_You're kidding me. _

Anna looked down at her watch. It was already eleven-thirty, so they had half an hour to navigate a party and convince a hard-to-convince guy that he needed to step away from his party for a moment to talk contracts. This was going to be easy, obviously.

Elsa just started striding through the place like she owned it, clutching the folder of papers that the client needed to sign. She was just wearing a navy blue sweater and a skirt, but she was still somehow managing to get envious looks from the other women at the party — and a couple of _interested _looks from them as well. Meanwhile, Anna slumped behind her with her hands twisting at the garment covering her body, because she was really nervous about the next thirty minutes… and the fact that so many eyes seemed to be on her.

Elsa led them to the room where the music was coming from and she stopped, tilting her head in the direction of a short, white haired man that seemed to be more enthusiastic than every other person at the party. "There's Mr. Weselton," she said, leaning toward Anna. "He'll try to get under your skin because he gets off on that or something. Don't let him. Just stick to the fact that it's in his best interests to sign this contract."

"Is it really?"

Elsa shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it is in _our _best interest," she laughed. Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Elsa held up a hand. "It's probably best for his company in the long run. If he signs this, everyone will benefit from it. Part of our job is to keep him profitable, because it keeps us profitable. This business is about money. You gotta get used to that."

Mr. Weselton finally spotted the two women and he started to walk in their direction. Anna swallowed and took in a breath. "I'm getting used to it, Els. It's a bit of a transition, but I'm getting it."

The man finally made it to the two women and he flashed a smile in Elsa's direction before dipping into a rather flamboyant bow. "Ladies!" he beamed up at them, returning to an upright position. "It's so good to see that you could make it to my party. And it's nice to see that you're all dressed up for it… unless this attire wasn't meant for _my _occasion," he winked, with a salacious smile, looking between the two women.

Elsa sighed, rolling her shoulders with her no-nonsense expression. "We need to talk to you about the contract you signed. You missed a few lines and we need you to attend to them."

"You're always all about the business, Ms. Lockheart," Mr. Weselton said, looking to Elsa. "Why don't you humor me for a moment. Dance with me."

He offered a hand, but Elsa shook her head. "I don't dance Mr. Weselton." When he didn't retract his hand, Elsa leaned her head in Anna's direction. "But this is Anna, and she _loves _to dance."

He then turned to Anna, grinning. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, _Anna_," he said slowly. "Care to dance?"

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Elsa shot her a look so she just closed it and smiled down at the older male. "Well, why not?" she chirped. "Wouldn't want to miss out on the fun."

Mr. Weselton grabbed her hand and began to drag her to the middle of the floor. Once they made it to a spot of his liking, he released her hand and began fluttering about doing some rather _precarious _dance moves. "So, you must be new to Southern Isles," he started continuing to dance. "I've certainly never seen you. Do you like it?"

Anna placed her hands on her hips, bouncing about a bit, trying to keep up a dancing image. "Y-yeah, I think it's a great place to be. It's my first year."

He leaned close to her ear. "Any _dirty _little secrets?"

Anna started to blink rapidly, not sure of what he was talking about. She looked in Elsa's direction for some sort of guidance, but the older woman just widened her eyes, and pointed at her watch. "I-I uhhh, I don't think so, Mr. Weselton. Look, we really need you to sign this contract."

"Why, so you can get a bonus from it? I'm well aware of the money the partners at your firm are going to make if this goes through."

He stopped in front of her, staring her in the eyes. Anna blushed a bit, fumbling over her words. "Oh… well, uhhh. I'm not really sure about that, but I'm not a partner, so that certainly can't be my motive. I'm definitely not getting any extra salary benefits from this."

He looked at her for a moment, then he lifted a brow. "But, Elsa is a partner?"

Anna shook her head. "No, just a senior associate."

He then frowned a bit, before relaxing his face into a smile. "That's odd because I was informed this morning that a Ms. Elsa Lockheart had been promoted to an equity partner and she'd be officially taking over my cases."

Anna took in a breath, because that was news to her. She hadn't heard anything about that. "Well, I uhhh, I'm not sure. I don't know-"

"I don't know a lot about the environment at Southern Isles," he continued, "-and I'm not one hundred percent on sexual harassment in the work place but I feel like a partner dating a first year associate is crossing the line a _little_ bit, don't you think? Not that you'd partake in anything like that," he winked.

Anna giggled a little nervously, then she cleared her throat. "I'm not… I think maybe yeah that'd be a little over the line, but I don't… I just think that I…" She trailed off because she really had no idea where she was going with this. This really wasn't turning out to be the best night for her.

Mr. Weselton laughed a bit before picking up where he left off on his dancing. "I'm just saying that it may look kind of weird that Elsa was called here at eleven-pm and she showed up with you… and you two were all dressed up and…" He trailed off and shrugged.

Anna rolled her eyes, and sucked in a breath— fed up with this entire conversation. "Look, Mr. Weselton. We just need you to sign some forms. And you're either going to do it, or you're not. Which _is_ it, because right now you're wasting my time?"

That came out harsher than she wanted it to, but she really felt like she needed to start holding her ground, or the conversation would just continue on like it had forever. And she really couldn't handle that, considering how flustered she already was.

Mr. Weselton stopped in front of Anna again and smiled, then he extended a hand in her direction. "Alright, lets go sign some forms. I have one condition, though."

She sighed, relieved. "Okay, what is it?"

"I want _you _to be working on all of my future cases. I like you. I'm a bit of a… _rule bender_, myself," he chuckled. Anna took his hand and they began to walk back toward Elsa. He turned to her just before they made it to the platinum blonde and asked, "Between me and you, how far have you and Elsa… you know? I'm just interested because I always thought the person who tried to get close to her would end up dead or something."

Anna rolled her shoulders a bit and tilted her head from side-to-side. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, her voice clipped. "And if you want me to work on your cases, just talk to Elsa, since she's apparently over them."

"Why don't you go to her yourself," he smiled. "Then give me a call and update me. Maybe we can do lunch sometime. I like talking to you."

They made it to Elsa and Mr. Weselton took the folder from the platinum blonde. Then, he turned and began walking off in the other direction. "Follow me to my office, ladies. Lets get these papers signed."

Elsa turned to Anna with an impressed smile. "I'm proud. Now we can return to the real fun," she nudged.

Anna wasn't so sure that she wanted — or well, that she _should _return to the 'real fun', because now Elsa was very clearly her _boss_, and not just someone who watched over her work. "M-maybe not," she stuttered. "I uhhh, I'm just not feeling that great."

Elsa placed a hand on her arm, concerned. "Is this because I made you dance with him? It was a joke, Anna. Honestly. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Ladies," Mr. Weselton called, "-are you coming?"

Anna and Elsa began walking. "It's not that," Anna stated. She wanted to find a better excuse out of this, but thinking up lies on the spot really had never been a skill that she could master, oddly enough. "I just—"

"What is it?" Elsa asked, clearly confused by Anna's sudden hesitation about their date.

"When were you going to tell me you made partner?" Anna blurted.

Elsa was taken aback for a moment, then she furrowed her brow and ran a hand through her bangs. "I guess I was going to tell you soon. I mean it wasn't going to be a secret for long. It just happened yesterday. I think I've just been kind of letting it sink in."

Anna took in a breath, trying to calm her nerves. She was mad. She didn't want to be mad. She didn't know why she was this mad. But she was. "Maybe you should have told me _before _our date. How is this going to look, now? You now have the power to fire me. You can get me promoted. You can actually freaking assign me to cases. You have so much sway over my position. You didn't think it'd be something pertinent to our situation?"

Elsa stopped and grabbed Anna's arm, halting her as well. "Anna, just calm down. I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know why you're so upset. I was going to tell you. I thought about telling you tonight, but… It's just so complicated. I don't know what to do. I really like you. And I never expected Olaf to like you so much, and—"

Anna snatched her arm away, even angrier than before. "You can't use your son for this, Elsa," she spat. "He isn't some puppy that you take to the park to pick up girls, okay? He's an entire freaking person and you can't just use him as an excuse to rope me into—"

"Ladies," Mr. Weselton interrupted. He was standing next to a man that was holding a tray of drinks. "You look a little tense," he smiled. "Try a sangria, it'll loosen you right up."

Elsa smiled, appreciatively. "No. Thanks, Mr. Weselton, but lets just get this done." He turned and began to walk again, and Elsa turned back to Anna. "I really hate that you think that," she said, her eyes saying that she was hurt. "Can we talk about this later, and just focus on getting him to sign these papers in the next ten minutes?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "You're the boss." She then turned and began walking, now seething, but still with no real reason for being this angry. It was like she went from one to ten in a matter of seconds, and she couldn't even keep up with her own state of mind. But, still, it was kind of upsetting that Elsa hadn't told her, because Elsa being a partner did make their situation a little stickier. Anna wanted to be on the partner track and she definitely didn't need other people around the firm thinking she was getting special treatment. Even more, she didn't want to have to go around hiding the fact that she was in a relationship.

Well, it probably wouldn't have been something she broadcasted anyway, even if Elsa didn't get the promotion, but it wouldn't have been as necessary for them to keep it under the table. And everything was now just a little more complicated than she liked it to be.

The two women walked into Mr. Weselton's office behind him, and he sat down at his desk and pulled out a pen. "It really was a pleasure having you two at my party tonight. I have to say that I actually quite enjoyed it." He initialed in a few marked places before looking up to Elsa. "I also believe that Anna has something to discuss with you regarding the handling of my cases, Ms. Lockheart."

Elsa smiled warmly, even though she was probably feeling anything but, and then she reached down to pick up the papers. "Thank you for signing, Mr. Weselton."

Mr. Weselton stood and grabbed his drink as Elsa looked the papers over. "Well, I'll trust you two to make it out on your own. I have a party to attend to. Have a nice night, ladies."

Anna opened her mouth to speak as he exited the office, wanting to continue her previous discussion with Elsa, but Elsa's phone rang and she picked it up. "I'm scanning them to you now, Hans. We just got them signed." She pulled a pocket scanner out of her purse and began to run it over the papers in front of her with one hand, while the other held the phone to her ear. "Yeah, I meant we… as in Weselton and I… Okay… Goodnight."

Anna rolled her eyes as Elsa hung up the phone. "Nice work getting those papers signed, Els."

Elsa finished scanning the last paper and she closed her eyes, sucking in a breath. "You know what, Anna? Grow up."

"Elsa, don't go there with—"

"We were having fun, right?" Elsa turned and asked, calmly.

Anna opened her mouth, then she closed it and nodded.

Elsa sat her bag and the scanner on the desk, then she walked over to Anna. "So can you just forget that I'm your boss for one fucking moment, and just remember that I'm also a person? I wasn't trying to pull anything over on you, or hurt your career. Who do you think will get the most shit if they found out about us? They certainly wouldn't think _you_ were taking advantage of _me_. I just… I really wanted to have fun tonight, because I like you. So, can you forget everything, and be mad at me tomorrow?"

Anna shrugged and looked away. Mostly because she was ashamed of her behavior, but also a little bit because she wasn't sure what to do.

Elsa reached over and placed a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Hey, I'm just saying that you're already here… but if you want me to go home, I'll just go home. I have no problem keeping things strictly professional between us, but I don't want to. I don't. And I normally don't chase people, but I'd…" She shrugged, looked around. "I don't know… I'd kind of be willing to go after you if you walked away right now."

—X—

Elsa really had this elegant way with words. And she was right when she talked about that feeling last night, of being exactly where she needed to be, because she was definitely a lawyer through to her core. She was smooth and graceful and everything that every woman hoped to be, because she also happened to be a pretty great mother. Anna wasn't sure how she felt about that. She didn't know whether or not she was falling for some ploy, or if Elsa was the real deal.

But she was enjoying watching the sun bounce off the sleeping platinum blonde next to her.

So, maybe Elsa kind of _did _talk her way into Anna's pants last night, but Anna would like to think of the sex as a bonus, and the words that came from Elsa as things that the woman actually meant. It sort of seemed like wishful thinking, but being optimistic couldn't hurt— at least not right now.

Elsa stirred a bit and turned, her soft curls falling over her face as she opened her eyes. "Just watching me sleep, huh?" she smiled, her eyes trying to fight off the last bits of her slumbering.

"It's all I've ever wanted," Anna laughed.

"Well, I hope I didn't disappoint."

Anna reached over and moved Elsa's hair off of her face. "Do you mean right now or last night?"

Elsa laughed a bit before stretching out and yawning. "I wasn't really talking about last night," she groaned, "-but I guess it sort of applies to that as well." She paused, staring into Anna's eyes for a moment. "Are you still mad at me?"

"It's a little harder to be mad at you right now, but I'm also known for putting in a little more effort than most." Anna took in a deep breath and released it. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving? It's in a couple of weeks."

"I don't know," Elsa shrugged. "Olaf and I might just curl up on the couch to a disney movie with a pack of turkey slices."

"That sounds sad."

Elsa nodded. "It is."

"Well," Anna started. She cleared her throat. "My Mom called this morning and asked about my nice friend with the son and wondered what you were doing for Thanksgiving." Anna paused for a moment, not sure if she should finish. But she figured she knew her family, and she was starting to know Elsa. "She says you're invited if you want to come over. She makes great food… And I think she wants you to see her as being healthy. It's probably killing her that you only got to see her in the hospital, you know?"

"That sounds fine to me, but I'll have to ask Olaf. He really likes those little packs of turkey slices," Elsa winked.

—X—

"So you invited _her _and not me? Why do I feel like I'm being replaced?"

Anna looked at two packs of salad mix before throwing the cheaper one into her cart. "Of course, Kristoff. You're just going to have to get used to not being the number one girl in my life." She stopped and turned to him. "I kind of thought at this point I didn't need to invite you, you know? I just figured you'd show up anyway."

Kristoff picked up a box of donuts and two boxes of little Debbie brownies and placed them in the cart. "That's also true, but you know I like to complain."

"That's not healthy."

"Don't tell me how to live my life, Anna."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Why are we even friends? And I meant the junk food, by the way. Take some of that out of the cart."

Kristoff's face twisted in confusion as he put a hand on the cart to stop it again. "Since when did you not want junk food? Who are you?"

Anna tapped her fingers on the cart, looking down at her shoes. "Well, Elsa might be coming over and… she might bring her son," she whispered. "And I don't want to set a bad example for him by having a ton of bad food in the house. Vegetables are cool."

"Vegetables are… she has a son?" Kristoff asked, his eyes widening. "How… I'm not gonna ask. This isn't my pl— but Anna don't you think that's a lot to be taking on… I mean, like… what?"

Anna started back pushing the cart. "I'm not taking anything on. She's not asking me to be the father or anything." She paused for a moment. "Do you think I'd make a good father?"

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Anna… wait, who's the actual father?" He laughed. "Hans?"

"I don't know who the… what?"

The question wasn't really directed at Kristoff. The idea of Hans being the father was just oddly… viable. _Shit. _Now, she was concerned with who the father could be all over again. It was no longer just a _personal_ question for Elsa. If she was worried about making partner while dating a partner, there'd definitely be a problem if she was dating the mother of a _name_ partner's child. That _really_ wouldn't go over well. She really couldn't seem to catch a break here.

But, there was still the chance that Hans wasn't the father.

"You don't know who the father is?" Kristoff asked. "Isn't that kind of the first question you ask?"

"No," Anna whispered, desperately wishing they could change the subject. "That's none of my business, and none of yours. Can we just drop this?"

Kristoff gave her shoulder a little nudge. "Sorry, kid. I didn't mean to upset you. Look, I really want things to work out between you two. But I also think that maybe you should be just a little careful, you know?"

"I know."


	9. Surprise

**Chapter 9: Surprise**

Anna stared down at the files in front of her on the large conference room table. She shuffled them around a bit before looking up to Brian. "Alright, so we just need to go over these three briefs and then we should be ready. Or at least ready enough. Please tell me I'm not the only one that is a _little _nervous here."

Brian sat back in his chair and folded his hands, a smile spreading across his face. "I'm as cool as a fucking cucumber right now, Anna. We totally got this case down. It's solid… and a lot of that is _your_ doing, so you should be as calm as I am right now."

"I'm trying, but I don't want to get ahead of myself."

Brian leaned forward and took in a breath. "We've thought of everything they can throw at us at this point. Just take a breather and pat yourself on the back. You did good. _We _did good for a couple of first years."

"I don't think I could have asked for a better second chair," Anna smiled.

Brian let out a small laugh and leaned back again, nodding. "Just let me do the cross, and you'll see my real potential," he winked.

Anna rolled her eyes, then she took in a breath. "Actually, I don't have a problem with you cross examining. I think you'd be a little better at it. At _this _point," she chuckled. "Just give me a few weeks and I'll be unstoppable."

"Hey," Brian smirked, holding up his hands, "-lets not make each other the enemies here. We're both first years. Way I see it, it's us versus everyone else. If they need to make cuts we're the first ones to go. We need to prove that we're just as good as someone who's been here longer."

"Yeah, that sounds-"

Anna was cut short by the sound of the conference room door opening. Elsa walked through and started speaking, not bothering with any pleasantries. "Brian. Anna. I need everything you have on the Koslovsky case."

Brian leaned forward in his chair, his face twisting in confusion. "Why? What's happening? Is there anything we need to know about?"

Anna turned more in her chair to get a better look at Elsa. She wanted to see if she could gauge what was going on from the platinum blonde's expression but Elsa's face was as impassive as its ever been.

"I'm taking it over," Elsa stated, cooly. "I need everything you have."

Anna recoiled a fraction, sucking in a breath. That was… well, that was _news _to her because the trial was in less than forty-eight hours and she was under the impression that it was _her_ case.

"But you said Hans assigned it to Brian and me," Anna stated, or rather _whispered_, before clearing her throat.

Elsa looked to Anna, her expression unwavering. "Well, the client would prefer that a _partner _took the case and I'm now the head of litigation, so I'm taking it."

Brian slapped the table roughly and dislodged himself from his chair. "Head of litigation…"

"Yes. As of three hours ago," Elsa blinked. "If you have any more questions, I suggest you ask them a little more respectfully." She looked to Anna, then back to Brian. "I don't know why you first years assume you can talk to me as if I'm your peer, but-"

"That's because you _were_ a peer until barely a week ago," Brian cut in.

Elsa took a breath — an _eerily_ calm breath— and then she responded. "If you ever want to touch a case again I suggest you take a seat and get to work on giving me what I requested." She then smoothly turned around and exited the conference room as quickly as she'd come.

Anna took a moment to process what just happened, but mostly to think about the fact that she had absolutely _no_ idea what was going through Elsa's mind. She didn't know if she'd done something to piss off the older woman, or if… well, she really just didn't know what it could possibly be.

Brian sat back down, pretty much seething at this point. He folded his arms across his chest. "That's unbelievable. That was bullshit— what she said about the client. The client loves us… and _trusts _us. Elsa's been a partner for _one_ second and she's already trotting around like she owns this place."

"Well," Anna started, "-technically she owns a part of it, now. And we can't be sure what's going on. Also, regardless of whether or not there is more to this or if she was just being a _bitch_, you overreacted. You seriously can't talk to a partner like that, no matter how new she is. You're just asking to get fired right now." Anna started to stand. "I'll go do some damage control."

Brian shook his head. "I know. I know. I need to control my temper… But don't go sucking up to her. She doesn't deserve it. Between me and you, I never liked her. She's freakin' icy, Anna. She's a cold-hearted-"

"I get it," Anna interrupted, pushing her chair under the table a little forcefully. "You think she's a bitch. I'm still going to do damage control, because I apparently care more about your job than you do."

Well, Anna at least cared more about what was going on with Elsa, than what Brian had to say. She just needed a real excuse to be alone with the older woman without looking too conspicuous. Elsa being a hard-ass wasn't making getting close to her at work any easier.

Brian shrugged, standing from the table as well. "I'm going to try to get ahold of the client."

Anna sighed, feeling like everything she was saying was falling on deaf ears. "Don't undercut a partner, Brian. You should really show her some respect. She's an amazing lawyer."

"Whatever, Anna. You do what you do, and I'll do what I do. I'm not about to sit around and do all of the work and get zero recognition for it. This isn't what I signed up for. Other firms wanted me."

Anna sucked in a deep breath. He hadn't done most of the work — _she _had. But she wasn't really in the mood for arguing. She just wanted to talk to Elsa. "Fine, call the client. I'm going to go talk to Elsa." She then turned and walked out of the conference room, quickly heading for the stairs.

She was hoping — _praying_, that Elsa would be in her office because that encounter was just a little too far on the side of terrifying. Anna knows that the platinum blonde is probably the last person to want to screw her over, but she has always had this weird thing against being over-confident. She's mostly sure that something else is going on, that there's a reason behind Elsa's actions. Because even though Brian was being a bit of a dick, he had a point. The excuse Elsa gave was sort of lacking. Anna had gotten to know the client pretty well, and it didn't fit the client to suddenly request a change of lawyer.

Anna found Elsa in her office, seated at her desk just staring off into space.

Something else was definitely going on.

"Hey, Elsa," Anna said, closing the door behind her as she entered the office. She walked to the front of Elsa's desk and took a seat in the chair. "I just wanted to know-"

"I'm so sorry," Elsa breathed, her eyes filled with some sort of despair. They made Anna wonder just how hard the older woman had to work to keep a straight face back in the conference room. "Was I too hard on you?" Elsa asked. "I didn't mean to be. I was just trying to distance us a bit, and I knew I was taking your case and I just… I didn't know how to handle that situation."

Elsa cleared her throat and looked off to the side for a moment as if something had suddenly caught her attention. Then she looked back, her eyes widening. "I didn't actually want to take your case," she said, the words fumbling out of her mouth like the most sincere apology. "Hans said we have a potential client following the case and that if we landed this client— he'd be likely to bring his _wealthy_ friends. Hans also said he wanted a partner on it to make _sure _that it was done well. He didn't single me out, but the remark was definitely aimed in my direction. It's really political, Anna. I-"

"No, no, no," Anna interrupted, holding up a hand. "Don't apologize. _ Jeez _that's… that's a lot of pressure on you already. I don't want to add anymore. I get it, Els. You're just doing your job. And I was a little worried about it before, but now I understand… so, please don't apologize," Anna smiled, _hopefully _reassuringly.

Elsa let out a relieved sigh, sinking a bit in her chair. She then looked around and noticed there were people walking outside of her office, so she perked up again— for show. "I'd be more than happy to take you on as a second chair, Anna. I could use you on the case. I mean, you did work hard on it."

Anna nodded and considered the offer, but it didn't seem right to jump on the case without bringing Brian along. After all, he had done _some _work. "Do you think Brian can-"

"Anna…" Elsa interjected. "I really just need _one _other person. And being completely honest, I'm asking you because I think you're the best of the two of you for this… if that helps you make your decision a little more objectively. I know you've bonded with the other first years, but at the end of the day when promotions are given out and cuts are being made, it's just you versus them. You have to stand out."

Anna nodded. She knew that, and she understood that, but if she went back and told Brian she was on the case, she didn't really know how that would look. "I get it, Els. Is it okay if I get back to you with my answer by the end of the day? Not that I don't want it, but…"

"It's okay, Anna. You don't have to sell your interests to me. I understand where your head's at right now. End of the day is fine." Elsa paused for a moment, tapping her fingers nervously on her desk. "Am I…am I still invited over tonight for dinner?" she asked, tentatively.

"Yeah, Els. Why wouldn't you be? I went through the trouble of finding good carrot recipes for Olaf and everything. I'm really excited for this."

Elsa blushed a little and looked down before looking up again. "Thanks, Anna. I… I, uhhh— you're great."

Anna nodded, realizing she probably should get to Brian before he did anything _too _stupid. "I'm here if you need me, Els," she said, standing. "Just don't try to take too much on your shoulders without reaching out for help every now and then. You're just human like the rest of us, after all." She cleared her throat, standing from her chair. "Sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Elsa nodded. "Good luck with the rest of your day. Hopefully I won't have to ruin it even more than I already have."

Anna sucked in a breath. She didn't know how to respond to that, so she just turned and left. She walked toward Brian's considerably smaller office mentally berating herself the entire time for the half-assed advice and the abrupt departure from Elsa's office. She really wasn't being a great shoulder to lean on, but her life was starting to become so overwhelming, so fast. A month ago never seemed so distant. She felt like a completely new person since she got this job.

She found Brian in his office, slamming his phone down before starting to angrily pace. She entered and he stopped, turning to her. "I couldn't get ahold of the client, but as soon as I do— trust me, Elsa's going to pay for this shit."

Anna took in a slow breath and attempted to stay level-headed. She tried to think of what her father would do. He was always so great with people because he was selfless. He helped and expected nothing in return. Sadly, that was a trait that Anna happened to share with him. Elsa _really_ didn't need this added stress. "She says she wants you as second chair on the case," Anna finally stated.

Brian's face flickered through a few emotions before finally landing on surprise. "That's… interesting. Why wouldn't she pick you? Honestly speaking, you did more work."

Anna shrugged, finding it hard to speak the words that she wanted— _needed _to say in order to diffuse this situation. "She thinks you'd have a better presence next to her. And she knows I did most of the work, but she feels like you'll argue it better. I really don't mind," Anna smiled— _tried_ to smile. "As long as our client gets justice, you know?"

Brian smirked to himself, smugly, before giving Anna the worst impersonation of sympathy. "Look, Anna. She's a bitch for this, but I _have _to take it. You're the one who said I need to look out for my career, and how would it look if I turned this down?"

Anna nodded. "No, no. I get it. You totally need to take this. I'll sit in on it," Anna chirped. "I'm cheering for you. Make us proud."

Brian smiled and nodded, looked around his office. "Well, I'm going to go thank Elsa for this opportunity. I'll see you later on." He then exited.

Anna just stood there for a moment.

She couldn't really describe what she was feeling, but it was so strong that it was almost painful. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to release it, but it got caught in her throat on the way out. And her eyes started to water. And she let out a small, almost inaudible gasp as the first tear dropped. And as the tears began to fall down her cheeks she sniffed a bit, gulping for air. Then she lifted her hand and covered her mouth to stifle a sob, hoping no one would look over and notice her crumpling shoulders.

Anna wanted to be a lawyer because she wanted to help people. But she was starting to find out that in this business, being the good guy was getting her nowhere. She still felt bad about John. She still felt bad about winning that case when she told him she'd lose— even though she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't help that she cared about how other's felt. She couldn't help that she wanted other people to be happy. But she was going to have to start doing _something. _She didn't want to be the little first year _forever_, after all.

After a few seconds she wiped her eyes on her sleeves, straightened herself, and then turned and walked out of Brian's office. And as she tried her best, but probably failed, to look as impassive as possible— she wondered just how much Elsa had gone through to be able to switch like that on the drop of a dime. Or maybe some people were just born with it.

Maybe Anna just didn't have what it took to be in this business.

She walked past a couple of men talking and she heard, "I know she slept with Hans. That's why she made partner after only four years. Who the hell does that?"

And somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it was about Elsa. She knew they were certainly talking about Elsa. But she knew what they said wasn't true. She didn't believe it. She didn't believe it. She didn't believe it.

Part of her believed it.

—X—

Anna looked at the clock on her desk, aware of the fact that she should have gone home at least half an hour ago, aware of the fact that she was probably the last one left. She should have been at home making dinner for Olaf and Elsa, but for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just had one of the worst days of her life.

And the sad part was that she couldn't call anyone about it. She couldn't talk about it because she didn't really know what was wrong. Well, she knew what was _wrong_, but she didn't know why she was acting like what was happening was something new. She didn't know why her mind was pretending like this was a phenomenon, like this never happened before. Mostly, she was just trying to stay strong and be the person who didn't complain.

So, she stood up.

She gathered her things, shut down her computer, and straightened her desk. Then she stood there a moment in silence before hearing a knock at her door.

Anna looked over as Elsa walked into the room. The older woman came up next to her, took in a deep breath, then blew it out as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. "I know what you did with Brian today, Anna. And… well, to cut through all of the unnecessary bullshit— I'm just going to say next time let me know if you're sending someone my way. It just kind of causes some stressful times when you don't, you know. I mean, I didn't really want Brian on the case."

Anna nodded because she didn't have many words at this point, and she feared if she opened her mouth, only the tears that she'd been holding back would come cascading down.

Elsa, somehow, seemed to pick up on that. "Sorry. I know your day was probably really hard… and I was just saying that I understand you felt uneasy about taking it and you thought Brian should have it if you didn't, but— " She cleared her throat, nervously. "Never mind. Do you think we should just leav—"

"Did you sleep with Hans?" Anna asked.

She didn't know why she asked it. And normally she wouldn't have. She wasn't necessarily the most tactful person, but she knew some questions were off limits. Maybe it was the day, or maybe she was just tired of being left in the dark. Whatever it was, the question was now out in the open.

And Anna expected Elsa to be shocked, taken aback, a little off-put even, but she didn't expect the older woman to do a complete one-eighty. "Seriously, Anna?" Elsa breathed. Her eyes looked as if she felt she'd been betrayed on the worst level. Then she took a step back, shaking her head. "I thought if there was one person in the firm I could fucking trust, it'd be you. But, no. Apparently not," she mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else.

The only thing that Anna could think was that the older woman still hadn't answered the question. That could be a bad sign.

Elsa blinked a few times, as if she was staving off tears. Then she swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, but just left it hanging there for a moment before any words came out. "And for the record— no. I did not sleep with Hans. I am not currently sleeping with Hans. I have never thought about fucking sleeping with Hans." Elsa grunted and ran a hand through her bangs, stopping short and just clutching her hair tightly in her hand. "I don't understand why people would think that I'm dumb enough to sleep with my boss, like could they have any less respect for me?" she said, obvious that she was very upset.

Then she took in a sharp breath and turned to Anna, eyes wide.

Anna shrugged. She didn't have the energy to fight, so she figured she'd just accept it. "No, it's okay. I understand. You're definitely not dumb, Elsa," she said, her voice so calm that it shocked even her.

She looked down at her desk and scraped at a spot for no reason in particular before looking back to Elsa. "And _for the record_, I only told Brian you gave him second chair because he was trying to go to the client behind your back. I figured you didn't need the added stress. He's a very excellent cross examiner by-the-way. And he graduated head of his class from Harvard Law, like you."

Elsa tilted her head and took a step forward with an apologetic outstretched hand. "Anna, I'm s—"

"But, you didn't really need me to tell you that," Anna continued. "Because I looked into it and found out that _you _were the one that fought ruthlessly to get him hired. You _know_ he's better than me in the courtroom. _Way_ better."

Elsa dropped her hand and swallowed, but she didn't attempt to speak again, realization setting in on her face.

Anna closed her eyes, her beliefs now confirmed. She then reopened her eyes. "I couldn't figure out why you'd tell me you wanted me as your second chair, knowing what you know. Then it hit me. It's about the judge we're fighting the case in front of. No one wants to admit it, but he's a bit of a sexist. He likes his women a certain way, and you don't fit in that category. But I do. I'm sweet and bubbly and innocent, right? You figured I'd get you some extra _cred _with the judge, and you could just win this one your own."

Elsa sighed heavily. "Technically I didn't lie to you, Anna. I just said I could really use you on the case, and I _could_. And you really did work hard on this. There's a lot more to the law than you think, and sometimes pleasing the judge is part of the process. You're more valuable than Brian is on this, Anna. I could have given it to you straight, but it wouldn't have sounded—" She sighed again, ran a hand through her hair.

Anna smiled, shaking her head. "No, Elsa you're _not _dumb. You're smart. You're very, very smart and you know how to talk your way around anything, or into anything. You're extremely good at what you do, and I fell right for it. I'm not ashamed to admit I fell for the whole thing. The entire act. I've pretty much been putty in your hands from day one. So, you won. You got me. Joke's on Anna. I'm dumb. Everyone laugh," she said sardonically, throwing her hands in the air for added measure.

Elsa took another step forward and placed a hand on Anna's arm. "This has nothing to do with our relationship, Anna. I acknowledge that it was really shitty of me— trying to use you, but I'm going through a lot right now… and I've meant everything I've said about our relationship. Honestly. I'm even freaking excited about Thanksgiving with your family. What do I have to do to prove this to you?" Elsa asked, with a painful desperation emanating through her words.

"Tell me who Olaf's father is."

Elsa dropped her hand. "Why?"

"Because I want to know who you had a child with, Elsa. I want to know what the relationship was like… if he's still in Olaf's life, and if not, why isn't he? Is there a chance he's coming back? I just don't want this to be such a mystery. Is that asking too much from a woman I'm dating? From someone I want to be serious with… someone I'm making sacrifices on my job for. If you're willing to tell me… willing to put just a _little _bit of faith into me, then I'll believe everything you've said."

Elsa's lip quivered, but much to Anna's surprise, she actually answered. "You don't have to worry about any of that, because Olaf's father is dead."

Anna released a breath that she felt like she'd been holding all day. She looked to Elsa, her eyes softening. "Did you love him?"

That was the second inappropriate question that she asked in the past five minutes, but they seemed to be springing from her mouth without her consent. She didn't really want to stop them, either. She actually wanted to know the answers to these.

Elsa swallowed. "Yeah," she whispered, shakily. She then ran a hand over her face, letting it rest over her mouth for a moment before dropping it. "Yeah… I mean, he was _my _father, too."

* * *

**A/N: lolol it means Olaf is Elsa's brother, not son. Don't get Weird. **


	10. I'll Come to You

**Chapter 10: I'll come to you**

Anna thought that asking Elsa about Olaf's father would make her and Elsa's relationship more open and less complicated. So far it kind of seemed like she was wrong about that.

"Wait… what?" Anna asked, narrowing her eyes at the taller, fidgeting woman in front of her. Elsa nodded as if what she just said made complete sense and was perfectly acceptable. Anna didn't want to jump the gun just yet, so she tried a different approach to her questioning. "_So_," she started, stretching out the word longer than she needed to as she twisted her hands together. "Are you saying… I mean, your father, or rather you and your father… you know?" she finished, tilting her head, and nudging suggestively with her eyebrows.

Elsa stood in silence for a moment, appearing confused, but then her jaw dropped and she took in a breath, her cheeks flushing red. "N-no. No, no, no. My mother is also dead."

That really didn't help the situation. Anna opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't have anything to say, really. So, she nodded. "Okay. I mean, I can't judge I guess… or I won't—"

"Olaf is my brother," Elsa blurted. "He's not _really_ my son," she admitted, her body clenching as if it physically pained her to say it. "But… he _is _my son. He's mine, okay? He's my son and no one can take that away from me. He's my son, Anna."

Anna took in a breath because that made a little more sense. So she pushed Elsa back toward a chair because it looked like the older woman would pass out if she didn't take a seat soon. "Okay, Els. I understand. He's your son. I know. Just…" she paused, staring into Elsa's eyes. "Just take a seat, okay? I'm sorry I asked."

Elsa sat down in the chair, hands trembling as she gripped the armrests. She then began shaking her head. "No, Anna. You need to know the whole story because… you're right. I'm going to open up to you, but then you have to stop doing _this._ I don't have room to keep giving you pieces of myself that I don't have."

Anna stood for a moment, a bit shocked because she never wanted to make things harder for Elsa— she just wanted things to be… easier for _herself. _She then sighed and took a seat in the other chair in front of her desk, turning it toward the older woman. "Okay, I'll stop doing this if you're open with me. That's all I want from you, Elsa. Seriously."

Elsa nodded, her body relaxing a bit as she sank into the chair. "Okay, I suppose that's fair enough." She got quiet for a moment, mindlessly running a finger along the arm of the chair before speaking. "My parents died four years ago when Olaf was just three months old. And I was pretty much fresh out of law school with an interview for a new job and I had never even considered _having_ a child, let alone thought about how to actually raise one. My life was pretty much only about my grades and career goals and—"

Elsa sucked in a long breath because her words were coming out a mile a minute.

"…And then there he was, my little brother, without parents — I mean, I also didn't have parents now, but I was older— and he was so tiny and innocent and so I sort of _had_ to adopt him. Like, I was his _sister. _I couldn't just let him go to someone else, but then it was like …" She trailed off and sighed, then she straightened herself in the chair. "I had an interview with Southern Isles. It's the biggest and best firm, you know, so coming out of college and getting to work here is like the dream. And I knew that I had a kid now, but I was still in the mindset that my career was the most important thing."

Anna cleared her throat, interrupting Elsa, and held up a hand. "I feel like this is a set up for something bad that you're about to say… so just get it out. Rip it off… like a bandaid."

Elsa nodded and looked down at her hands as she twisted them in her lap. "At the time I was getting hired there was a woman, Donna Parker, and she was looking for a firm to take her business… her multi-_billion_ dollar business. I knew that Southern Isles was looking to hire women because there was a serious lack of representation of women here, and they wanted to appeal to Donna Parker. I also knew that Donna had just had a baby and during my interview with Hans… it seemed like it wasn't going well... so I kind of told him that I'd just had a son."

Elsa paused and looked up at Anna, but the younger woman didn't say anything because she didn't really know what to say. So, Elsa just continued. "Hans hired me after that and he helped me pay for a nanny and he was very accommodating and he said to keep it between us. He seemed like he was being so nice. And when Donna came he told her how he'd just hired a woman with a baby and she wanted to talk to me… and I told her how great Southern Isles was. And we got her business."

Elsa closed her eyes briefly, dropping her voice to a whisper. "And he told me good job… like I had a kid just so we could get this woman's business. I felt so cheap, because in a way… it was true."

"Elsa, that's not true. You—" Anna wanted to say something encouraging, something to help Elsa feel better but, once again, she had nothing.

Elsa stared at Anna expectantly for a few moments before dropping her head. "Yeah." Her voice cracked and she took in a shaky breath. "So, I got home after that and I told myself if I was going to parade him around like he was my son, that I at least owed it to him to be the best mother possible... I don't want him to know he's not my son, Anna," she breathed out, as if it was something she'd been wanting to say her entire life. "My life was about the law and my career and myself… and then it was about him," she then whispered, tears silently falling from her eyes. "And he's just so forgiving and sweet and…" She trailed off.

Anna moved her chair closer to Elsa and then she leaned over and placed a hand over the older woman's knotted fingers. "Everyone makes mistakes but you're a good mother, Elsa. You're. A. Good. Mother. And nothing else matters."

Elsa looked up into Anna's eyes. "I took this promotion because I knew I _had_ to… But it means more hours away from Olaf, and—" She sniffed and took in a breath before pressing her lips together and snapping her eyes shut. "I'm just another vote for Hans whenever he wants to make a motion with the other partners. That's all I am to him." She reopened her eyes, collecting herself. "And I know I can't leave because Hans would make sure I had nowhere else to go."

Elsa unlocked her fingers and squeezed Anna's hand between her own. "That's why I was so interested in why Hans hired you _personally_. Because I was the last junior associate that he hired… and he had a very clear reason behind that. I've been trying to stand in between you and him since you've been here, but I think he's trying to turn you against me. That's why he wanted me to take your case. Look, I can't convince you to not trust him… _shit_, I've given you more reason not to trust me than he's given for you not to trust him… but I'm telling you he's not a good man."

Anna shrugged, offered Elsa a smile. "It's okay, Els. He reminds me of my first boyfriend and that didn't really end well. So, I just naturally don't trust him." Elsa smiled and it was explosive, like it just burst from within her. Then she started to laugh a bit, and Anna joined her before starting to speak again. "I'm on your side, Els. No matter _what _you want to do. Like, if you want to quit and start your own practice… I'm with you. Not as your lover, but as a fellow lawyer who has a lot of confidence in your skill."

"Yeah," Elsa responded, laughing some more. "Start my own practice with what money?"

Anna took in a breath and released it. "Well, I'm sure if we both left, Mr. Weselton would follow us with _his _multi-billion dollar business. Like, how many erroneous charges have you gotten him out of? Plus, he loves us."

Elsa shook her head, her smile somewhat fading. "You can't be serious, Anna. You expect me to quit, steal clients from Southern Isles, and expect to survive against them in this economy? Hans would _personally _see to my destruction. And I'd hate to be in his war path."

"You're right," Anna nodded. "It was a bad idea… but I did get you to smile."

Elsa blushed a bit. "You're a good girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Anna laughed.

"Yeah. That's the price you gotta pay for me opening up to you."

"Fine," Anna said. "But it's probably to late now for me to make you and Olaf dinner."

Elsa sighed, shaking her head. "It's okay. I think he's mad at me, anyway. Last night he wet the bed and I got up and told him he had to put on a pull-up and he started whining because he wanted to be a _big boy _and wear real underwear. He said he wouldn't wet the bed, but I had work in the morning, and I didn't want to have to get up and change the sheets again, so I made him wear it anyway." She looked Anna in the eyes. "Does that make me a bad mom?"

Anna shook her head. "My mom once told me that if I stared at the wall long enough I'd be able to pass through it. She really just wanted me to be quiet long enough for her to watch her favorite talk show."

"Yeah, but how do you feel about that?"

"I get it _now_," Anna stated. "And I think maybe that's the thing about being a parent. You have to make decisions that your kids won't understand in the moment, but they'll get in the future. It's pretty much an uphill battle."

Elsa smiled. "That's encouraging."

"Sorry," Anna smiled. "I don't have a lot of parenting experience so I'm not much help. But I _can_ handle the day-to-day work on some of your cases. You can even laugh about it with the other partners and call me an over-zealous first year or something. It'd free up some of your time so you can get more done here during the day and take less home. Plus, you might actually get home on time some days. That means more Olaf time."

"You don't have to do that," Elsa sighed.

"I know, but I want to. It's, you know, it's nothing. I don't have anything waiting for me when I get home. And you_ should_ be working me hard. It's how I learn. Like you said, it's me versus them out there."

Elsa smiled and ran her thumb over Anna's fingers. "You don't really think that, do you? If you thought that you would have never sent Brian to me."

"I didn't think that _before _I sent Brian to you. But after he was so quick to step on me, I might have had a change of heart."

"Seriously?"

Anna let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, he might as well have walked out of there holding up two middle fingers with a giant 'fuck you' taped to his forehead. I even cried a little."

Elsa frowned, leaning forward. "Aww, Anna. I'd give you a hug, but we're like awkwardly sitting down. But, if it makes you feel better, he was banking on us pleading out, and—"

"Wait," Anna interrupted. "We didn't?"

Elsa shook her head. "Nope. The other side must have something up their sleeve. Brian was good in law school, aced his mock trial, but he's never been in court before. He's pleaded out of all of his cases. I guarantee you he's gonna look like a fish out of water, so you should come watch. I'm gonna let him go up. Teach him a lesson," she winked.

"But don't you want to win?"

Elsa nodded, with a smile. "Trust me, I'm going to win this case, Anna. You did some fantastic work, so I really have you to thank for it. I had to tweak some of it a bit, but from the looks of it, you might be as good as me one day," she joked. She then cleared her throat. "Just don't expect Brian to be this _new _for long. He's a fast learner. Like you said, there's a reason I fought so hard to get him hired… even if he _is _a bit of a dick."

"Okay. We should probably get out of here. Maybe I can hang out with you and Olaf some other time," Anna smiled tilting her head.

"Like a play date? You haven't met Olaf until you've seen him at one of those arcade places for kids… with the ball pits and stuff. It's insane. Like, he gets a little juice and some pizza and he's bouncing off the walls for four hours straight. I both fear and admire his tenacity."

"I guess he gets that from you," Anna winked.

"I never know whether or not you're making a sex joke."

Anna laughed as she leaned back in her chair. "That's inappropriate, Elsa. I'd never make a sex joke to my _boss. _Who do you think I am?"

Elsa shook her head, then she stood and offered Anna a hand. "As much as I enjoy having these very…emotional talks— it's just a little draining, so if you don't mind… we can maybe hold off a bit until our next one."

Anna reached up and took Elsa's hand. "You avoid emotion like the plague. I bet if you looked up concealing in the dictionary, your picture would be next to it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Even though I kind of know you now," Anna started, standing from her chair, "-I still look at you and have absolutely no idea what you're feeling."

Elsa shrugged, releasing Anna's hand. "Maybe you're just not looking hard enough."

"Maybe. I tried doing the conceal approach today, but I guess it's a learned skill."

Elsa smiled. "Years of training," she responded with a tone that made Anna a little sad.

The mystery that was Elsa was starting to unravel, but she didn't know how she should feel about the things that Elsa was telling her. It seemed like the older woman was leading a very challenging life, but it didn't feel like she really wanted sympathy. Honestly, Anna wasn't exactly sure _what _Elsa wanted from her… but it was becoming increasingly clear that her feelings were at least genuine.

Anna reached out and placed a hand on Elsa's arm. "Well, you don't have to do that around me, okay?"

Elsa snaked an arm around Anna's waist and pulled her in. "You're like, really romantic, you know that?"

Anna blushed and leaned her head against Elsa's chin. "I don't try to be. I just say things sometimes and they come out that way, I guess. Kristoff says it's because I believe in true love," she laughed.

"What's wrong with believing in true love?"

Anna looked up, smiling. "Well, it's because it only exists in fairy tales… according to him of course. I just think that sometimes people can share this really powerful connection, that's all. It's not really that farfetched in my opinion."

—X—

When Anna finally made it home she took her shoes off before she even had the chance to make into her apartment building. She was tired and her feet hurt and her head hurt, and she just waned to forget most of what happened during this day. She was glad that Elsa opened up to her, but she was also glad that this day was over. She just needed to turn off her brain and take a nice, hot bubble bath.

But, when she made it to her door, she was greeted by an unexpected face from her past.

"Ms. Christensen. I'm sorry to show up at your house, but I didn't know what else to do."

Anna sighed because this just wasn't her day. "Michael, what are you doing here?"

The tall, slender, dark haired man stood from the spot that he'd been sitting in outside of Anna's door and he walked toward her. "It's about my brother, Anna. He's being accused of murder, but he didn't do this. You're the only lawyer I know. I didn't know who else to go to. You got me off when I was accused of—"

"Michael, even if I…" She sighed again, heavily. "I work for a firm now, so I can't just take _any _case. You have to have money, and I doubt you have enough to pay for this firm. Besides, I don't have the _time…._" She trailed off. "Have you thought about getting a public defender or a court-appointed attorney?"

"Do you know what happens to people who get those?" Michael snapped.

Anna held up a hand, telling him to calm down. "I was a public defender when I took your case, and here you are outside my door."

"That's because I trust you, Anna. You're one in a thousand out there and I don't want to take any chances. I was hoping you'd just do this pro… pro something."

"Pro bono?" She sucked in a breath. "My firm only takes a certain amount of those, and you have to get on the list… I can't just—"

"Anna this is my brother we're talking about. This isn't a fucking name on a list, it's a real person. I don't want anyone else. I don't want a public defender. I want you, Anna. And if you want money…" He stopped, looking around as if he'd cry. "If you want money, then I'll find a way."

"Legally?"

"What's it to you? All money's green, right? Look, are you gonna take this case or not? I need you, Anna. My brother didn't do this. I know he didn't do this."

Anna swallowed, then she released a defeated breath. "When's the bail hearing?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Anna rolled her eyes, flexed her shoulders. "Are you serious? Okay… okay. Your brother, he's a college student right? Any priors?"

"No," Michael said, shaking his head. "He's a good kid. He didn't do this. They're just trying to pin it on him. He would never do anything like this. He wouldn't survive in jail. This can't happen to him."

"Okay, I need to know what kind of evidence they have against him."

Michael started to pace, running a hand through his hair. "They say they have a witness."

"Well those can be faulty."

"They also have his DNA."

Anna's face twisted in confusion and she tilted her head. "Is he already in the system? How do they know they have his DNA?"

"He gave it to him," Michael responded. "He was sure he was innocent, so he just cooperated. It hasn't come back as a match or not yet, but the witnessed ID'd him, so they're holding him as the prime suspect."

Anna ran a hand through her hair, overwhelmed. She wasn't necessarily that well-versed in criminal law, so she couldn't do this without help. And the only person she could think to call right now was… well, _Hans_. He happened to be over criminal law in the firm. She didn't want to call him because Elsa said not to trust him, but in the end she figured that had nothing to do with this case, so she picked up her phone.

"Hold on a second, Michael," she said as she dialed Hans' number. She then put the phone to her ear.

Hans picked up after three rings. "Hans Southern speaking."

"H-hey, Hans. This is Anna."

"What do you need?"

She cleared her throat, nervous. "Well, I have a family friend whose brother has been caught in some trouble… and the bail hearing is tomorrow morning. It's a criminal case and…" She looked to Michael apprehensively. "…this kid is innocent, Hans. I just need some advice. I have the brother here with—"

"Where are you? I'll come to you."


	11. Tired

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait.

But, I think I should get the next few chapters out a little faster.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Tired**

Anna wasn't really prepared for the magnitude of the case.

Sure it was a murder case. Michael made that clear from the beginning. What he didn't make clear was the fact that a leader in a religious community had been murdered. Anna wasn't prepared for the community, for the reporters. She wasn't ready to fight off the allegations of it being a hate crime. And honestly, if she didn't have Hans by her side, she might not have been able to walk into the courtroom.

She felt like a fumbling mess, unprepared and unsure. She'd never been a part of something that garnered this much attention. And she really wasn't sure what she'd just walked into.

Hans still looked as cool as the proverbial cucumber. "This is just like any other case we fight, Anna. We have an innocent kid being accused here, and it's our job to make sure he gets off."

Anna swallowed thickly, nodded. "Yes, but. I just." Her cheeks were drained and if it wasn't for the miracle that was make-up, anyone would be able to easily tell that she hadn't slept the previous night. That it'd been more than twenty-four hours since she last closed her eyes.

"Get it together," Hans commanded, snapping his fingers in her direction. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

Anna shook her head, desperately trying to blink herself awake. "N-no. Can you repeat that?"

"I said stay calm. We've got this. Jason's been an outstanding community member and his parents are here and supportive. Right now we need to just focus on getting bail and then we can take this case one step at a time. I already called and got our investigators on this. From now on, this case takes precedent."

Anna didn't ask for this. She just wanted to go home an go to sleep. Didn't want to end up being the lawyer fighting a poster-case for hate crimes. "Okay, just focus on the bail. Just focus on getting him out," she repeated, assuring Hans she heard this time.

He nodded, grabbed one of her shoulders reassuringly, then looked off behind her. "Okay, we're up. Stay positive. We got this."

Anna's feet were a bit like lead weights as she approached the doors to the courtroom. And she wasn't sure if her apprehension was just brought on by the fact that she hadn't had any sleep or if she actually felt _this _unsure about the case. She'd never been anything less than confident when entering the courtroom. Something was throwing her off her game, and she needed to shake it, fast.

Even in her current state of mind, as soon as she walked through the doors, her game face was on. She followed Hans into the room, gave Michael and his parents a polite nod as she passed, and then tried to give Jason the most reassuring smile that she could as she approached the defense table.

Jason looked quickly between her and Hans when they made it to the table, and before there was even time for introductions, he asked, "You're gonna get me out of this, right? We're gonna win, right? I didn't do this."

Hans didn't immediately speak up, so Anna figured it was her job to respond. She sucked in a breath and wanted to say yes, but didn't really feel like it was appropriate to make promises like that. "You're in good hands. And I can't promise you that we're going to win, but I can promise you that we're going to fight."

That was all she could think to say. Thankfully, Jason appeared soothed by the comment.

Hans then leaned over and introduced himself. "Hi, Jason. I'm Hans Southern, a partner at Southern-Isles. I'll be helping out with this case. We want to get you out of here."

Jason visibly relaxed with that. It was something about Hans' confidence, his tone, his charm. And it made even Anna feel more relaxed when he finished speaking. She was starting to feel a bit more confident. Admittedly, most of it stemming from the fact that she had Hans standing by her side. She was still aware of what Elsa said about him, but he had been nothing but helpful so far. _And _it was a little hard to look past that at the moment because he was willing to help out her friend free of charge.

She wasn't in a position to complain.

She just wished she'd had a chance to talk to Jason beforehand, because this sort of felt a little bit like flying blind. It felt kind of like being a public defender again. Just when she was starting to get used to being in a private law firm.

The judge entered the room and took his seat, and the prosecution didn't hesitate to jump in. "Due to the seriousness of the charges, the state opposes bail at this time." Anna sucked in a breath as the other attorney spoke. The fact that she hadn't slept much was becoming less of a factor with the small bit of adrenaline that was starting to kick in. "We believe he is not only a flight risk, but a danger to the community," the prosecution went on to say.

"Excuse me, your Honor," Anna interrupted, jumping in before she really even had the time to process that she'd spoken. "But what is this based on? The defendant has no criminal history, he's an outstanding student, and his parents are active members in the community. They're even seated here in the gallery today to assure the court that the defendant will make it to trial."

Jason shifted nervously, briefly making eye contact with Anna. She tried to be reassuring when she met his eyes. The state didn't have much to argue with so this should go smoothly. And he _should _get bail.

Positive thoughts.

"Beckon your pardon, your Honor," the prosecution then said. "But the state has a cooperating witness, codefendant Jonathan Miller— who not only places Mr. Watson at the crime scene, but identifies him as the attacker."

Shit. Anna had no idea about that. No way to fight that. And Hans was just being silent.

The judge nodded. "Bail is denied and the defendant is remanded to custody." He then sighed and slapped down his gavel before calling out, "Next case."

Anna's entire body tensed as Jason turned to her. "I thought you said you'd fight," he said. "I thought I'd get bail."

Anna blinked a few times, not knowing what to say. It all happened so fast. Thankfully, Hans leaned over and spoke for her. "Your friend must have cut a deal with the state's attorney. Don't worry, we'll get you out of this." Jason was then pulled away and Hans looked to Anna. "The first one to make a deal is usually the first one to get out. We need to get an investigator on this right away."

He then turned and walked away and Anna grabbed her bag before turning and quickly shuffling to keep up with him. "Thanks," she managed to get out, huffing as she tried to control her breathing.

Hans turned to her as she caught up to him. "I'm willing to help you out as much as I can, Anna… I. I know you brought this case in, but I think I should sit first chair on this."

Anna was more than happy to hand this one over. "No, I think that's a great idea. It's probably best for Jason if you take lead…" Then, realizing how noncommittal that sounded, "Besides, I'm dealing with friends here, so it might not look that good." Calling them _friends _was a bit of a stretch, but Anna didn't have much to go on here.

Hans turned out of the court room and stopped. He then turned and grabbed Anna into a quick hug before pulling her away, but keeping his hands on her shoulders. "What happened in there wasn't your… wasn't _our _fault. We were blindsided, but next time we'll be prepared. We're not going to let this kid down, okay?"

Anna needed that. It was encouraging and right now she really needed encouraging.

She blinked, ran a hand through her hair and tried to snap herself back into some semblance of _Anna _and not this empty shell that was walking around. "Yeah. I think I just need some rest, really. I haven't slept in over a day and it hasn't been a day that was light on the workload."

Hans smiled, took one of his hands off her shoulders and squeezed with the other. "Take the day off, get some rest and then we'll jump into this headfirst tomorrow."

—X—

Anna was face down in her pillow, dead to the world, when she heard a knock at her front door. Or maybe it was the hundredth knock. She wasn't sure how long the person had been out there, but when she lifted her head it kind of felt like she'd been hit in the head by a baseball bat. She couldn't even properly register where she was for the first fifteen seconds.

But, as her senses started coming in one by one, she groaned, realizing she probably needed to go answer her door.

She climbed from her bed, or rather crawled, and then she shuffled her way toward the front door, her appearance never once crossing her mind. Not that it would have mattered, anyway. She just wanted to tell whoever was there to go away so she could get back to sleeping. She didn't have time for anymore interruptions, for any more cases falling in her lap. This was the first day that she ever regretted becoming a lawyer.

Elsa was standing with a smile on her face when Anna opened the door. Olaf was next to her holding a McDonald's bag and he shouted, "Chicken nuggers!" when Anna looked in his direction. Then he walked into the apartment like he owned the place and Anna was too tired to stop him.

Elsa just pulled her into a hug and held her there. "Hans told me he gave you the day off I just wanted to check on you, bring you something to eat."

Anna wasn't as excited as she maybe wanted to be to see Elsa, but Elsa showing up was a nice sentiment. "Thanks, I…" She trailed off. There was no polite way of telling Elsa she just wanted to sleep, so she accepted her being there.

They managed to get Olaf to the kitchen and he seemed to be the only one excited about the chicken nuggets.

Anna couldn't remember _ever_ having a longer week in her relatively short amount of time on this planet. She was virtually a zombie, and no where near her usual peppy self. And it wasn't necessarily the fact that she had a lot of work to do or that it was very physically taxing. Well, it _was _both of those, but on top of that, it was also emotionally taxing.

She was the type to take everything on her own shoulders and then she'd normally end up exhausted. But she didn't want to think about any of that. Right now she just wanted to relax and maybe spend time with her girlfriend. And her girlfriend's son.

"So, Hans is on the case?" Elsa asked, almost as if she wanted it to sound offhanded, but Anna knew that was part of why she was really here.

"He said he'd handle it and I trust him. I'm sure he didn't make it this far without being a good lawyer," Anna muttered, upset that work seemed to follow her everywhere.

Elsa pressed her mouth into a thin line, obvious that she was attempting to hold something in, then she relaxed her face and finally said, "Well, did the bail hearing go well, at least?"

Anna slumped down in her chair, tapping her fingers along the surface of her kitchen table. Olaf mumbled to himself, playing with his chicken nuggets off to her left. "No. It went just about as bad as it _could _go."

"What do you mean?"

Anna leaned forward and let out a long breath. "The codefendant's _now_ a cooperating witness. He cut a deal with the state's attorney for a lesser charge. And we got denied bail."

Elsa grabbed a napkin and started wiping ketchup off of Olaf's fingers. "What's the codefendant getting?"

"Burglary."

"_Ah_," Elsa said, then she paused and shot Olaf a glare that made him immediately stop fidgeting. "Can you prove there was no burglary?"

Olaf looked up and Anna gave him the best smile she could muster up, which was very noticeably exhausted at best. "I'm sure Hans knows what he's doing. He's probably thought of that, but… if not, I'll try."

"Do you really want to trus—"

"Elsa," Anna cut in, "—if you think Hans is going to put _anything _before his reputation, then…" She took in a breath, held it.

Elsa looked up from Olaf. "Then what?"

"I don't want to call you _naive _in front of your son, but…" Anna trailed off. That was one of the meanest things she had ever said. If she wasn't so tired she'd probably feel bad about it. Elsa just took in a breath like she was accepting defeat. "Would you rather I'd called you?"

"No," Elsa muttered. Then she sank back in her chair. "I just. I think you should have kept it at just asking for his help. I don't think you should have let him take over the case, especially if it's pro bono. He's probably going to win it, but…"

"That's all that matters."

"Yeah," Elsa sighed. "Until you owe him something. I just don't want you giving him something he can hold over your head. Trust me, he doesn't hand out favors."

"Fine," Anna huffed. "He gave you a job so he could get a client. He got the client and you got a job at one of the best law firms. I don't see why you're writing him off as the only winner in that situation. And then, he made you a partner so he could get a vote, _maybe. _But, again. I don't see why he's the only winner here. You're a _partner_. That's like million dollar bonuses. People get jobs and promotions for reasons. Accept whatever the reason is and enjoy the fact that you got it."

Anna tried to put that gently, but now Elsa was doing this very _subtle _form of pouting. "Okay," she whispered.

"Els, I'm not saying he's not a dick—"

_"__Anna._"

"Sorry," Anna said, looking to Olaf. "I'm not saying he's not a _jerk_. I get that. Maybe he is, but…" He didn't act like a dick today. "Look, you've lost a lot and you don't… _didn't_ have anyone to lean on, really. And maybe. _Maybe_ you thought you could lean on Hans, and you couldn't. I'm not saying that's what happened, but if it is, you have to let it go. You can't revolve your life around this. He used you, but you can't let that get you down. You gotta take that and use it as your driving force to… to," Anna sighed. "…I don't know."

Elsa ducked down a bit, smiling a little as she tried to stifle a small laugh. "Great pep talk," she said. "That was… That was very elegant."

"I try."

"But, really," Elsa said, perking up a bit. "You're right. I mean, I get it. I can't keep letting that get me down. I can't keep passively waiting for things to get better. I just have to… let it go," she laughed.

Anna cleared her throat, shifted in her seat, and then cleared her throat again. "I'm sorry I'm grumpy today. I'm not trying to be this…" She shrugged. "_Mean_… I guess."

"It's okay," Elsa assured.

"You're being remarkably calm about this, actually."

Elsa smiled, then leaned over to wipe the corner of Olaf's mouth. "Would you be terribly surprised if I said that I'm tired of fighting?"

"Thought you were a lawyer," Anna smirked.

Elsa's smile left and then she just looked… tired. "I don't want to bring Hans into our relationship." She paused. "And well, I guess I _am _the one bringing him in… Can we just start tonight over? From the chicken nuggets?"

Anna smiled, shaking her head. Even if she wanted to fight, she didn't have the energy. "You brought me fast food," she laughed. Almost laughed. It was a very tired chuckle at best.

"The food was an after thought. I was coming over, _then _I thought that maybe you hadn't eaten yet."

"But, McDonald's?"

"A very, _very _late afterthought. Like, three minutes from your apartment type thing."

"_N_o," Anna breathed, "—not that one. I especially don't trust that one," she joked.

Olaf jumped from his chair and began walking from the kitchen. "Gotta go potty. Be right back."

Elsa looked after him. "You need help?"

"No, I'm fine."

"It's down the hall on your right," Anna called, not sure if he heard or understood. They'd know if he didn't find it soon enough. After a few seconds Elsa leaned forward across the table, a large smile tugging at her lips, crinkling the corners of her eyes. "What do you want?" Anna laughed. A real laugh this time.

Elsa leaned in a bit more. "I think you know," she smirked.

Anna didn't feel much like moving, but she _did _kind of want to kiss Elsa. So, she planted her hands on the table and pulled herself up to lean into the kiss.

A few moments later, Elsa smiled into her mouth, letting out a soft laugh. "I feel like we're in high school and we're sneaking around."

Anna just pressed more into the kiss before breaking it, briefly. "If we're in high school, does that make this Teen Mom?"

Elsa laughed, then went for Anna's bottom lip, nibbling a bit. "Just shut up and kiss me."

Anna's arms started to get tired after a while, and she wanted to take this kiss somewhere else, like maybe the bedroom, but then she was reminded that she had another guest. "Mommy, my poop's green!" came Olaf's voice, from off in the bathroom.

Elsa immediately broke the kiss and jumped from the table, quickly heading in the direction of the bathroom. "Don't touch it, Olaf," she said quickly. "I'll come look."

Anna sat back down in her chair and sighed. Then she put her head down on the table, starting to drift back to sleep.

* * *

**More Notes:** I always feel like shows, books, and fics sometimes start to go wrong when the focus of the entire thing shifts to a relationship. So, while I want Elsa and Anna's relationship to be prominent and important, I'm not going to forget the fact that they have jobs and that they're fighting cases. That will **also** be a very important part of the story. I think it's kind of good to show that the world doesn't stop the moment that Anna and Elsa get together.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews/faves/follows. You guys and girls are great.

Until next time.


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